125,000 displaced by Mosul op to date: Iraqi official

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) – The number of people displaced since a wide-ranging army campaign to recapture Mosul from Daesh began some two months ago now stands at some 125,000, Iraq’s minister of migration and displacement said Wednesday.

"The displacement camps we’ve set up can only accommodate about 120,000 people," Jasim al-Jaf said at a press conference held at his ministry in Baghdad.

"The total number of people to have been displaced since the Mosul operation began has now reached some 125,000," he added, saying his ministry would be hard pressed to absorb more displaced persons.

Al-Jaf went on to stress that his ministry hoped to step up its coordination with the UN in this regard.

According to several humanitarian NGOs, a number of displaced people have died in recent weeks due to worsening weather conditions.

Al-Jaf responded to this assertion by saying that displacement camps set up by his ministry contained tents equipped with heating devices.

In mid-October, the Iraqi army launched a major offensive to retake Mosul, Daesh’s last stronghold in northern Iraq.

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