Civilians face death, hunger in western Mosul
Civilians and particularly children in areas that are still under control of the Islamic State live in very difficult situations, facing death, hunger and illness.
BAGHDAD — “I fled from the Zanjili district with the help of our neighbors, leaving behind my father and two of my siblings. I still do not know what happened to them. There has been news that they were killed in the mass murders as they were fleeing the government forces at dawn on Saturday, June 3, 2017.”
This was the account given by 5-year-old Doha (a psuedonym) to Al-Monitor. Doha was accompanied by one of the aid workers in the vicinity of Hammam al-Alil camp, where the federal police had sent her.
On June 8, as Iraqi joint forces stormed the Old City of Mosul — the last area of the city under control of the Islamic State (IS) — concerns have been raised about the 100,000 civilians trapped in the densely populated city center.
Bruno Geddo, the Iraq representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said on June 16 that the civilians in Mosul's Old City, where the militants are surrounded by Iraqi forces, are "basically held as human shields."
