900 civilians flee Mosul as IS ‘use human shields to block offensive’

MORE than 900 people have fled Mosul and crossed into Syria — the first big group of civilians confirmed to have escaped the Iraqi city since an offensive began to liberate it from Islamic State.

Today the Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the civilians were now in a refugee camp.

Up to 1.5 million people are thought to be in Mosul, which is held by an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 IS fighters, and there are fears that IS will use people as human shields.

Residents reached by telephone by Reuters said the terror group had tried to stop people fom fleeing the city and directed some towards buildings likely to be targeted by air strikes.

However, the movement of such a large number of civilians indicates they are not able to prevent everyone leaving — and that militants might try to use the same route to flee.

The operation to take Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, began on Monday. About 30,000 Iraqi government troops, Kurdish Peshmerga and Sunni tribal fighters, backed by air strikes from the US-led Coalition — including the RAF — are seeking to encircle the city.

Iraqi government forces are moving up from the south while the Kurds are approaching from the east. A total of 20 villages were taken from the militants by yesterday, according to statements from the two forces. Hoshiyar Zebari, a senior Kurdish official, said: “Daesh [IS] is disoriented — they don’t know whether to expect attacks from the east or west or north.”

Mr Zebari added that “solid” intelligence indicated IS leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi and explosives expert Fawzi Ali Nouimeh were in the city.

However, attacking forces are still between 19 and 25 miles away and progress has been slowed by suicide bombers, snipers and roadside bombs. Qaraqosh, east of Mosul — Iraq’s largest Christian-majority town before IS took it over — was under siege.

Mosul resident Abu Mahir told Reuters by phone: “It’s quite clear Daesh has started to use civilians as human shields by allowing families to stay in buildings likely to be targeted by air strikes.” The International Organization for Migration has said it fears IS might even use chemical weapons.

Barack Obama has sought to allay concerns about an exodus of civilians from the area, saying “plans and infrastructure” are in place for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis.