Over 161,000 people displaced in Iraq's Mosul due to clashes: UN
Xinhua, January 24, 2017 Adjust font size:
More than 161,000 people are internally displaced as a result of ongoing fighting in Iraq's Mosul city, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a daily briefing on Monday.
Humanitarian partners delivered aid packages consisting of food, water supplies and hygiene materials to 4,500 people in an east Mosul city neighborhood on Sunday, said Dujarric.
Over last week, some 56,100 people living in east Mosul received aid packages from UN partners, he noted.
Iraqi security forces have been fighting fiercely to drive out the Islamic State (IS) militants from their last stronghold on the northern outskirts of the eastern side of Mosul, the city which has been under IS control since June 2014.
In October 2016, Iraqi troops kicked off operations to recapture Mosul, some 400 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Battles in Mosul slowed down in December as extremist militants started using civilians as human shields, resorted to suicide car bombings and made mortar and sniper attacks. Enditem