- Title: Civilians flee Mosul as operation to retake the city continues
- Date: 3rd January 2017
- Summary: NEAR BARTELLA, IRAQ (JANUARY 2, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE WAITING TO BOARD A BUS THAT WILL TAKE THEM TO CAMPS VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN GATHERED NEAR THE BUSES DISPLACED MEN AND BOYS QUEUING VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN WAITING WOMAN HOLDING BABY AND MAN WAITING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF THE IRAQI ARMY, BRIGADIER JABBAR HASSOUN, SAYING: "The joint team has transferred our brothers and sons from the left flank to the security screening points. We also provided them with medical attention and meals. They will now be transported to the camps." DISPLACED PEOPLE AND IRAQI ARMY VEHICLES DISPLACED PEOPLE SITTING NEAR THEIR BELONGINGS VARIOUS OF IRAQIS WAITING TO BOARD THE BUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED MAN FROM QUDS NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MOSUL, ABDULLAH, SAYING: "We fled from the Quds neighbourhood. We lived through difficult circumstances because of the mortars fired by Daesh (Islamic State) that targeted children and women as well as men. They destroyed our lives, these are not Muslims, they have ruined the image of Islam." DISPLACED PEOPLE WAITING / IRAQI ARMY VEHICLES DRIVE DOWN A NEARBY ROAD DISPLACED PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED DISPLACED MAN FROM THE INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MOSUL, SAYING: "[I fled] from the Intisar neighbourhood. There were mortars and shelling, it was very difficult, we are going to the Shalalat area." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING TO BE TRANSPORTED MEN IN THE BACK OF TRUCKS VARIOUS OF TRUCKS TRANSPORTING MEN TO NEARBY CAMPS
- Embargoed: 18th January 2017 08:28
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul Bartella camp Iraqi army Quds neighbourhood Islamic State
- Location: NEAR BARTELLA, IRAQ
- City: NEAR BARTELLA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XIZFPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of residents fled from eastern Mosul neighbourhoods on Monday (January 2), as the second phase of the army offensive against Islamic State militants continued.
The men, women and children, mostly from the neighbourhoods of Quds and Intisar, boarded trucks near Bartella to be taken to nearby camps.
"The joint team has transferred our brothers and sons from the left flank to the security screening points. We also provided them with medical attention and meals. They will now be transported to the camps," said Brigadier Jabbar Hassoun, a member of the army.
One man heading to the camp said the situation in Mosul was very difficult.
"We fled from the Quds neighbourhood. We lived through difficult circumstances because of the mortars fired by Daesh (Islamic State) that targeted children and women as well as men. They destroyed our lives, these are not Muslims, they have ruined the image of Islam," said Abdullah.
Since the offensive to capture Mosul began 10 weeks ago, counter-terrorism forces have retaken a quarter of the city, the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq, but their advance has been slow and troops on other fronts have made little progress.
The campaign, the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, entered its first significant pause earlier this month for a planned "operational refit".
But last week, more than 5,000 soldiers and militarised federal police troops who had redeployed from Mosul's southern outskirts entered half a dozen southeastern neighbourhoods, while counter-terrorism forces advanced in Quds and Karama districts after receiving reinforcements.
More than 114,000 civilians have been displaced from Mosul so far, according to the United Nations, but 1.5 million are still thought to be inside the city. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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