IRAQI PUSH CONTINUES
Thousands flee from Mosul’s war misery
Islamic State fighters are forcing people from their homes to use them as fighting positions
Thousands more people are fleeing Mosul every day since Iraqi troops began their push into the last Islamic State-held areas of the city last week, with food and water running out and the clashes killing increasing numbers of civilians. More than 22,000 people have fled Mosul since the US-backed forces opened a new front in the northwest of the city on May 4 to try to finally dislodge the militants, the United Nations said on Wednesday, citing Iraqi government figures. In the past two days alone, more than 11,000 people have passed through a screening site at the Hammam al-Alil camp south of Mosul. Islamic State (IS) fighters are shooting people who try to escape, although some men have been allowed to go in exchange for taking militants’ families with them, said 40-year-old Umm Abdul Rahman, who fled the Musherfa district on Tuesday night. One man waiting to be checked by security at Hammam al Alil had streaks of blood on his clothes from carrying a woman hit by an IS sniper. They ...
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