Terrified civilians hide from gunfire in Mosul pre-school

MOSUL: The bullets of militants rain down outside the Mosul kindergarten, where dozens of terrified Iraqi civilians are sheltering from fighting in their northern city.

Confused, scared and exhausted, the civilians — mostly women, including one in a wheelchair — huddle in the pre-school after Iraqi forces brought them in for protection.

The sounds of sniper fire, airstrikes and shelling echo all around them, as Iraqi forces fight to dislodge Daesh militants from a nearby building.

Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Mosul from Daesh, after the militant group overran the city in 2014, imposing its brutal rule on its inhabitants.

Naja Abdallah, 70, says she did not dare leave her house until Iraqi forces arrived in her district of west Mosul and even then fled with family members under heavy fire.

“We had no more electricity, no water, no medicine — nothing but God’s mercy,” she says, as sniper and artillery fire continue unabated in the Al-Shifaa district outside.

Iraqi forces have managed to retake most of Mosul since launching the battle for Daesh’s last major Iraqi stronghold seven months ago, but the advance has slowed in the last districts under Daesh control.

Daesh’s grip on Mosul has been reduced to the Old City and several nearby areas, but the militants are putting up significant resistance and up to 200,000 civilians may be caught in the fighting.

Iraqi fighters inside the preschool have led women to one room, while they check the identities of the men — young and old — somewhere else.

The anti-Daesh forces thoroughly screen fleeing civilians in a bid to make sure no militants escape among them.

Omran, a 24-year-old who has grown his beard long like all men under Daesh rule, is one of those who is separated from his family for vetting.

“We’ve lived through tough, terrifying days. We’ve really been through a lot,” he says, just before he is whisked away.

The fighting intensified around his home in recent days, he says, and his family escaped to their neighbor’s house after their own was hit in the fighting.

“I hope to God it all gets better,” Omran says.

Women quietly break down into tears after the men are taken away, as an Iraqi commander shouts coordinates over the radio for warplanes and artillery gunmen to target the militants.

Sniper fire intensifies around the building, where civilians are holed up with journalists and members of the Interior Ministry’s elite Rapid Response force fighting Daesh.