85,000 flee homes amid Mosul fight: Iraqi Red Crescent

By Arif Yusuf and Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – More than 85,000 civilians have fled their homes in Mosul amid a weeks-long military operation aimed at expelling members of the Daesh terrorist group from the northern city, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent.

"Five weeks into the Mosul operation, the number of people displaced [from Mosul] has reached 85,293," the Red Crescent said in a Tuesday statement.

Most of those displaced, the organization added, had since taken refuge at the Hasan al-Sham and Khazir camps in Erbil province; the Zulaykan camp in Duhok province; and the Jadaa camp in the town of Qayarah in Nineveh province (of which Mosul is the regional capital).

According to the Red Crescent, the Hasan al-Sham and al-Khazir camps together now host about 30,675 displaced people, some 3,100 of whom have arrived within the past two days alone.

Iyad Rafed, an Iraqi Red Crescent official, told Anadolu Agency that the organization was cooperating with Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement -- along with security agencies -- to receive the displaced.

"The numbers are constantly increasing; displaced peoples require greater support from international agencies, especially in light of falling temperatures," Rafed said.

Last week, the Iraqi Red Crescent said almost 80,000 civilians had been displaced since the Mosul campaign began on Oct. 17.

Iraqi officials, for their part, continue to issue appeals for help with a view to meeting the needs of the mounting numbers of people fleeing their homes.

In mid-2014, Daesh overran large swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq, including Mosul, the country’s second largest city in terms of population.