Intensified fighting in Mosul forcing increasing number of civilians to flee: UNHCR

Of the 60,000 people who have fled the Iraqi city of Mosul since military operations to recapture one of the Islamic State (IS)'s last strongholds began on Oct. 17, around 40,000 have done so in November, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported Friday.

"Close to half are children, according to UN data and UNHCR surveys. Women, girls and female headed households, some of whom are survivors of abuse, account for much of the rest," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said in a statement.

"There has been a marked increase over the past week in the number of people fleeing after fighting intensified in the more densely-populated urban areas of Mosul," he added.

The agency had warned before the military campaign kicked off that as many as 1.2 million civilians could be displaced by fighting.

Together with partner organizations as well as the Iraqi government, UNHCR has the capacity to host up to 700,000 people if need be.

Supported by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Iraqi troops kicked off operations last month to take back the city which fell into IS hands in June 2014 after government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.

International aircraft as well as Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition artillery units are supporting ground operations there.

According to reports, more than 5,000 IS militants were initially holed up in Mosul to defend the city, though they are losing ground amid ongoing military operations. Endit