Hundreds flee eastern Mosul amid anti-Daesh offensive

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD

Hundreds of civilians have fled eastern Mosul amid an ongoing military offensive to oust Daesh terrorist group from Iraq’s second largest city, an Iraqi aid official said Monday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Iyad Rafed of the Iraqi Red Crescent said 1,200 people, mostly children and women, had been displaced from Mosul’s eastern districts in recent hours.

“The exodus of refugees is still continuing from areas that see clashes between security forces and Daesh militants,” he said.

He said the fleeing civilians have been relocated by Iraqi relief teams to the Khazir refugee camp, north of Mosul.

Last week, the Iraqi Red Crescent said around 79,000 civilians have been displaced since anti-Daesh operations in Mosul began last month.

Iraqi officials have appealed for assistance to meet the needs of the rising numbers of refugees in camps.

Once Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population, Mosul -- along with additional swathes of territory in the country’s north and west -- was overrun by Daesh in mid-2014.