UN: Over 217,000 Iraqis Flee Mosul as Operation to Free City From Daesh Advances

Sputnik News

02:33 20.02.2017

Over 217,000 Iraqis have fled Mosul since the start of an operation to liberate the city from the Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in Russia, in October 2016, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

GENEVA (Sputnik) – On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the operations to liberate the western part of the city.The eastern part was cleared from the extremists earlier in January.

"To date, some 160,000 of the almost 217,000 people who have fled hostilities since 17 October are living in displacement, while over 57,000 have returned to their homes in newly-retaken areas," the OCHA report, published on Sunday, read.

According to the reports, serious concerns remain for the protection of the estimated 750,000-800,000 civilians in the densely populated west of the city, where "food, water and fuel are already running low."

The UN report noted that between 250,000 and 400,000 people could flee the fighting in western Mosul.

Nearly 900,000 people in eastern neighborhoods of Mosul have received emergency packages of food, water and essential household since October 17, 2016, according to UNOCHA.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was captured by Daesh militants in June 2014.

© Sputnik