400,000 trapped in Mosul Old City
Intense shelling and food shortages could provoke a mass exodus, UN warns
An estimated 400,000 Iraqis are trapped in Daeshcontrolled Old City of west Mosul facing food shortages and growing panic under shelling that could provoke a mass exodus, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said yesterday.
Many civilians fear fleeing because of Daesh snipers and landmines, but 157,000 have reached a reception and transit centre since the Iraqi government offensive on west Mosul began a month ago, it said.
“The worst is yet to come, if I can put it this way. Because 400,000 people trapped in the Old City in that situation of panic and penury may inevitably lead to the cork popping somewhere, sometime, presenting us with a fresh outflow of large-scale proportions,” said Bruno Geddo, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Iraq.
Fighting in the past week has focused on the Old City, with government forces reaching as close as within 500 metres of Al Nuri mosque, from where Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declared a so-called caliphate spanning parts of Iraq and Syria in July 2014.
Daesh militants are now on the back foot, with their stronghold in Syria also under attack. But they still hold an estimated 40 per cent of western Mosul and the battle to recapture it could take weeks.
Civilians are streaming out at an increasing rate, now averaging 8,000-12,000 per day who reach a reception and transit centre at Hammam Al Alil, Geddo said.
“We also heard stories of people running away under the cover of early morning fog, running away at night, of trying to run away at prayer time when the vigilance at Daesh checkpoints is lower,” he said.