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Fighting in Iraq's Mosul causing record displacement: IOM

Xinhua, March 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

An ongoing military campaign to recapture western parts of Iraqi City Mosul from Islamic State (IS) militants was causing displacement on a scale unseen since operations started in October 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned Thursday.

"The fight for Mosul in Iraq is causing higher numbers of displaced people than previously seen in the four and a half-month-long operation," IOM said in a tweet.

Latest IOM figures reveal that over 30,000 people have been forced to seek refuge elsewhere since Feb. 23.

According to UN estimates, some 750,000 people are trapped in western parts of the city, while the eastern part of the city was liberated in late January after more than 100 days of fighting against IS militants.

As the Iraqi government kicked off its second wave of military operations last month, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned that as many as 250,000 people could be forced to flee their homes because of fighting. Endit