More Iraqi people flee homes amid military operations in western Mosul

More Iraqi people flee their homes amid military operations in western Mosul, a city in north Iraq, after the Iraqi government liberated the eastern part of the city in late January, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

"In Iraq, with military operations to retake western Mosul progressing, displacement has increased from front-line areas," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

On Thursday, some 350 people arrived at a screening site in Hammam al Alil, some 30 km southeast of Mosul, having left their homes in Abu Saif village and surrounding areas near Mosul city airport.

"Displacement has also continued from eastern parts of the city, alongside return movements back into some east Mosul neighborhoods, and to surrounding areas," he said.

Almost 162,000 people are currently internally displaced as a result of fighting in Mosul, he said, adding that cumulatively, since Mosul operations began on Oct. 17, more than 218,000 people have been displaced.

The troops' advance toward Mosul came after the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Feb. 19 the start of an offensive to drive the extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River which bisects the city.

Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of the eastern side of Mosul, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against the Islamic State (IS) militants.

However, the western side of Mosul, with its narrow streets and a heavy population of between 750,000 and 800,000, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces, according to the United Nations estimates.

Mosul, 400 km 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. Enditem