103,000 civilians displaced since Iraq’s Mosul op began

By Ibrahim Salih and Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – More than 103,000 civilians have been displaced from their homes amid a weeks-long military campaign -- which remains ongoing -- to clear Daesh terrorists from the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi government said Monday.

In a statement, Iraqi Minister of Migration and Displacement Jassim al-Jaff said that about 2,470 more civilians had fled their homes in northern Iraq on Monday alone.

"This takes the total number of displaced people to 103,362 since the operation began," he said.

In mid-October, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and local allies on the ground -- launched a major offensive to retake Mosul, Daesh’s last stronghold in northern Iraq.

According to Abu Bakr al-Kanaan, the head of an Iraqi government commission tasked with repatriating displaced persons, some 15,000 people have already returned to their homes in areas south of Mosul.

"And another 10,000 will return to their homes in the area soon," al-Kanaan told Anadolu Agency.

Iraqi officials have vowed to recapture Mosul, which fell to the Daesh terrorist group in mid-2014, by year’s end.