Over 100,000 people forced to flee Iraq's Mosul: UN relef wing

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 104,000 people are internally displaced as a result of the ongoing military operations in Mosul, which began on Oct. 17 in the northern Iraqi city, a UN spokesman told reporters here Monday.

"Food and water shortages persist in retaken neighborhoods of eastern Mosul city, affecting approximately 250,000 people," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"Humanitarian partners have continued to provide assistance in affected areas where access allows," he said.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners are trucking water to eastern Mosul city, delivering approximately 450,000 litres of water per day to some 45,000 people, the spokesman noted.

Aid agencies continue to support health facilities receiving casualties, but the main health center in Mosul's Zahraa neighborhood is reportedly overwhelmed, receiving more than 1,700 consultations in one day, he added.

On Oct. 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, announced the start of a major offensive to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city, in a bid to liberate the northern Iraqi city, the last major Islamic State (IS) stronghold in Iraq.

Mosul, some 400 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Endit