- Title: As Mosul battle grinds on, civilians flee besieged west
- Date: 3rd January 2017
- Summary: NEAR MOSUL, IRAQ (JANUARY 2, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TENTS AT THE HASSAN SHAM CAMP NEAR MOSUL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH A DIRT ROAD IN THE CAMP IRAQI MAN WHO FLED THE WESTERN SIDE OF MOSUL, JAMAL, WALKING OUT OF HIS TENT WITH HIS CHILDREN JAMAL STANDING WITH HIS THREE CHILDREN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI MAN WHO FLED THE WESTERN SIDE OF MOSUL, JAMAL, SAYING: "Only the lucky ones get out and are free. There are some who manage to cross over, others who are caught, there are some who are forced back, some who are stabbed. It depends on your luck." JAMAL'S CHILDREN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI MAN WHO FLED THE WESTERN SIDE OF MOSUL, JAMAL, SAYING: "Many are stabbed on the way, others are shelled and killed. In the dangerous area, many people bury their family members in gardens and leave them behind to cross. It is a problem, there's no turning back, if you are unlucky and someone gets sick, or gets killed on the way, you have to bury them anywhere, leave them and cross over." JAMAL'S DAUGHTER VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT THE CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI MAN WHO FLED THE WESTERN SIDE OF MOSUL, KARAM ALI, SAYING: "We fled because we want to be free. We left at around noon, the bridges were not hit yet, so we fled to the eastern side to escape. In the western side, Daesh (Islamic State militants) were very strict, they destroyed us. If they find someone with a SIM card, they would kill him, if someone is found with a phone battery, he is slaughtered." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN STANDING BEHIND A FENCE IN THE CAMP TENTS AND PEOPLE IN THE CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MAN WHO FLED THE WESTERN SIDE OF MOSUL, ABU YASER, SAYING: "Daesh (Islamic State militants) would confiscate our cigarettes daily, they took me for questioning three or four times, they made me pay fines of 500 (Iraqi dinars). I no longer had a single dinar. So I decided to flee with a group of people to the eastern side. We got to the Basateen area and from there we met the 9th brigade (of the army)." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE TO RECEIVE WATER BOTTLES AID WORKERS PREPARING WATER BOTTLES FOR DISTRIBUTION AID WORKERS DISTRIBUTING WATER VARIOUS OF IRAQIS CARRYING AID PACKAGES
- Embargoed: 18th January 2017 09:19
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul Hassan Sham camp displaced civilians battle Islamic State offensive
- Location: NEAR MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: NEAR MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XIZI2V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Civilians who fled the besieged neighbourhoods in western Mosul said on Tuesday (January 2) that they made their escape at nightfall across bombed out bridges and between the frontlines of Islamic State militants and Iraqi forces.
Some crossed the Tigris river by boat after the U.S.-led coalition bombed the five bridges connecting the city's two halves to restrict Islamic State movements. Others scaled what remains of the bridges using a rope.
Most of the 116,000 civilians who have fled Mosul since the start of the campaign to retake the city in October come from the east, where Iraqi forces are gradually gaining ground against the militants.
But as the operation enters its seventh week, a growing number of people are escaping from the besieged west, which the militants still control.
"Only the lucky ones get out," said Jamal, who crossed the river using a rope to climb over the remnants of one bridge and came with his wife and three children to Hassan Sham camp for civilians displaced from Mosul.
"Many are stabbed on the way, others are shelled and killed. In the dangerous area, many people bury their family members in gardens and leave them behind to cross. It is a problem, there's no turning back, if you are unlucky and someone gets sick, or gets killed on the way, you have to bury them anywhere, leave them and cross over," Jamal added.
Although there is no fighting in the west, food is scarcer than ever since government-backed Shi'ite militias advanced through desert terrain southwest of Mosul in November, sealing the city's only outlet to the world via Syria and prices are too high for most to afford.
Civilians who fled the west in recent days said the militants had announced they would soon distribute food and break the siege in an attempt to placate their increasingly desperate subjects and convince them to stay.
But one man, Karam Ali, insisted on fleeing the increasing tyrannical rule of the militants.
"We fled because we want to be free. We left at around noon, the bridges were not hit yet, so we fled to the eastern side to escape. In the western side, Daesh (Islamic State militants) were very strict, they destroyed us. If they find someone with a SIM card, they would kill him, if someone is found with a phone battery, he is slaughtered," Ali said.
In the run-up to the campaign, aid agencies were preparing for a mass exodus from Mosul, but most of the city's residents - numbering as many as 1.5 million - have so far chosen to stay.
That has worked in Islamic State's favour, slowing the progress of Iraqi forces seeking to avoid civilian casualties.
Until recently, the militants punished anyone caught fleeing their self-styled caliphate with execution, but recent arrivals at the camp said the sheer volume of people trying to escape had forced them to lessen the penalty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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