- Title: Civilians flee Mosul to escape fighting and Islamic State
- Date: 8th April 2017
- Summary: HAMMAM AL-ALIL, MOSUL, IRAQ (APRIL 8, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS DISPLACED PEOPLE AT HAMMAM AL-ALIL CAMP BUS CARRYING DISPLACED PEOPLE ARRIVING AT CAMP DISPLACED WOMEN GETTING OFF BUS DISPLACED WOMEN AND CHILDREN WALKING AWAY FROM BUSES AT CAMP DISPLACED PEOPLE AT CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF IRAQI NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION NCSON, ZAYD AL-HAMADANI, SAYING: "It is true that the right side is smaller in area, but it is densely populated. Let alone that most of the people, almost 60-70 per cent of the people of southern Mosul, were taken by them (Islamic State) to the right side. Hammam Al-Alil camp receives daily around 8,000-9,000 people." WOMEN AND CHILDREN OUTSIDE TENT AT CAMP LITTLE GIRL CARRYING CHILD AT CAMP CAMP EMPLOYEE CARRYING CHILD WITH AL-HAMADANI SPEAKING THROUGH LOUDSPEAKER LOOKING FOR PARENTS OF CHILD NEWLY ARRIVED FAMILY SITTING ON GROUND AT CAMP WAITING TO BE ADMITTED TO BE GIVEN TENT GROUP OF CHILDREN AT CAMP NEWLY ARRIVED WOMEN AND CHILDREN WALKING INTO CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED WOMAN FROM MOSUL'S AL-AMIL NEIGHBOURHOOD, UMM NAWAR, SAYING: "They (Islamic State militants) treated us very badly. They starved us to death and imprisoned us inside our houses. Young people were not allowed to go out of the house." (inaudible question) UMM NAWAR, SAYING: "Yes, the army treated us well." DISPLACED PEOPLE BEHIND CAMP FENCE SECURITY MAN BODY SEARCHING MEN ENTERING CAMP MEN SITTING ON GROUND INSIDE CAMP WAITING FOR SECURITY CHECKS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED MAN FROM ZUMAR DISTRICT, AHMED ALI MAHMOUD, SAYING: "Daesh mingled amongst people, preventing anyone from fleeing. We fled Mosul when we could not afford to pay rents anymore. We could not escape before, but yesterday, April 7, we seized the opportunity when planes came to bomb and we fled. They (Islamic State militants) usually open fire on cars, killing drivers and puncturing their tyres to prevent people from fleeing." BUS CARRYING DISPLACED PEOPLE ARRIVING AT CAMP BUS WITH DISPLACED PEOPLE NEARBY PEOPLE WALKING IN CAMP ROWS OF TENTS AT CAMP
- Embargoed: 22nd April 2017 14:57
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul displaced camp refugees Islamic State NCSON Hammam al-Alil civilians al-Amil
- Location: HAMMAM AL-ALIL, MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: HAMMAM AL-ALIL, MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0016BJFL8N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Mosul residents continued to flee the city on Saturday (April 8) filling already overcrowded humanitarian camps in Iraqi-controlled areas.
Iraqi non-governmental organisation NCSON said it has been receiving up to 9,000 people a day and distributing them among five of its camps in the area.
Most of the fleeing civilians come from liberated districts, but some people from neighbourhoods still under the militants' control are increasingly attempting to escape and reach a camp.
Iraqi troops are meeting fierce resistance as Islamic State militants retreat into the Old City, where street fighting is expected in the narrow alleyways and around the mosque where Islamic State declared its caliphate nearly three years ago.
Witnesses said that Islamic State militants have killed dozens of civilians attempting to flee Mosul in recent days, hanging several dead bodies from electricity poles as Iraqi forces fight to retake the city.
A man who spoke to Reuters via telephone said he had found the mutilated body of a relative strung up from an electricity pole in the Tenek district along with three other young men caught trying to flee by the militants. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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