Scores of Iraqi civilians killed in clashes in W. Mosul

BAGHDAD (AA) - Scores of civilians were killed in late June amid an ongoing Iraqi army campaign aimed at retaking the northern city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group, according to a local police source.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mohamed Zubaidi, an Iraqi federal police officer, said that 213 civilians had been killed in the period from June 24 to 30 in clashes in western Mosul’s Old City district.

“The civilian death toll is difficult to determine. Many children lost their lives before security forces were able to deliver humanitarian aid,” Zubaidi said.

“Scores of women have succumbed to injuries they sustained -- and many elderly people have died -- due to the acute lack of medical supplies,” he added.

Mustafa Saadun, who heads the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO, said that civilians were “bearing the brunt of the ongoing clashes in and around the Old City district”.

“These clashes have left scores of civilians dead and injured. Dozens have been crushed under the debris of collapsed buildings. The area is witnessing a humanitarian disaster,” he said.

Saadun added: “Within a month and a half, more than 700 civilians have been killed -- and 1,250 others injured -- in the Zenjili, Al-Shifa and Old City districts.”

On Saturday, Federal Police Lieutenant-General Raed Jawdat said Iraqi forces had “fully recaptured” the Al-Shifa district from Daesh militants.

The Iraqi military remains engaged in a wide-ranging campaign -- which began last October -- to recapture the entire city of Mosul, which Daesh overran in mid-2014.