- Title: Thousands queue for U.N. aid in Mosul
- Date: 8th December 2016
- Summary: AL-ZUHOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD, EAST OF MOSUL, IRAQ (DECEMBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) CROWD OF PEOPLE RUSHING TO COLLECT AID / GUNSHOTS FIRED INTO AIR TO DISPERSE CROWD VARIOUS OF CROWD RUSHING THROUGH SCHOOL ENTRANCE/ POLICEMEN PUSHING CROWD BACK / GUNSHOTS FIRED INTO AIR VARIOUS OF CROWD BY SCHOOL ENTRANCE / POLICEMAN THREATENING PEOPLE WITH STICK / CROWD BEING PUSHED BACK PEOPLE IN TWO ROWS QUEUING UP ALONG WALL OF SCHOOL WAITING FOR AID PEOPLE NEAR SCHOOL BUILDING WHERE AIDS BEING DISTRIBUTED VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING UP FOR AID PEOPLE WITH HANDS ON TOP OF SCHOOL WALL WHILE WAITING FOR AID PEOPLE OUTSIDE SCHOOL WAITING FOR AID DISTRIBUTION (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) RESIDENT OF AL-ZUHOUR, IDREES SAEED ILYAS, SAYING "We need gasoline. Some people got aid more than 10 times, while others got nothing. I do not have anyone and I can not push with others to get aid. They have to find us a solution." PACKAGES OF AID ARRANGED ON GROUND BY WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AID WORKERS AID BOXES AND BUCKETS BEING ARRANGED ON GROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE COLLECTING AID BOXES AND BUCKETS AID BOXES AND BUCKETS WAITING TO BE COLLECTED IN SCHOOL GROUNDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROGRAMME OFFICER FOR THE U.N.'S WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME IN CHARGE OF RAPID RESPONSE MECHANISM, HAYDER ITHAWI, SAYING: "The big challenge for them is the need for water, for health care and fuel as we are receiving winter now and the weather is increasingly getting cold, so this is the priority for the families, plus to the need for the food that we are going to provide them today." POLICEMAN WITH GUN / WOMEN AND CHILDREN WAITING FOR AID ELDERLY WOMEN WAITING FOR AID WOMAN SHOWING HER FOOD RATION CARD VARIOUS OF WOMEN WAITING TO GET AID (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT FROM AL-ZAHOUR, IHSAN ABDULLAH, SAYING: "Since the start of the liberation operations, one and a half month ago, some of the people have received aids for more than 20 times, while others had not get even bread or a tomato paste can. The distribution mechanism was arbitrary. People are suffering from lack of drinking water, gasoline and fuel in general." CHILDREN MAKING PEACE SIGN WITH FINGERS VARIOUS OF WOMEN WAITING TO GET AID WOMEN PACKED AGAINST WALL WAITING FOR AID CHILD WAVING TO CAMERA PEOPLE ON ROOF OF HOUSE WATCHING PEOPLE WAITING FOR AID CHILD ON ROOF OF HOUSE ROOFTOP VIEW OF LONG QUEUE OF PEOPLE STANDING BY SCHOOL WAITING FOR AID
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2016 19:42
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul aid Islamic State
- Location: Al-ZUHOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD, EAST OF MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: Al-ZUHOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD, EAST OF MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA0015C13EBR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Iraqi police fired shots in the air as residents of Mosul threatened to overrun the first distribution of aid by U.N. agencies inside the city on Thursday (December 8), in a measure of the desperation felt in areas retaken from Islamic State.
The distribution, which aimed to reach 45 thousand people, is the biggest since Iraqi forces entered Mosul's eastern districts more than one month ago and also illustrates the challenges faced by humanitarian organisations seeking to alleviate acute shortages of water, food and fuel.
As word of the aid spread, residents of the al-Zuhour neighbourhood flocked to a boys' primary school chosen as a distribution point -- men queuing to one side of the main entrance and women on the other.
Seventy-seven-year old resident, Idrees Saeed Ilyas, called on the government to work out a mechanism to organise the process.
"We need gasoline. Some people got aid more than 10 times, while others got nothing. I do not have anyone and I can not push with others to get aid. They have to find us a solution," Ilyas said.
"Since the start of the liberation operations, one and a half month ago, some of the people have received aids for more than 20 times, while others had not get even bread or a tomato paste can. The distribution mechanism was arbitrary. People are suffering from lack of drinking water, gasoline and fuel in general," said 46-year old carpenter Ihsan Abdullah.
Most people clutched their government ration cards, but one woman, Samira Mohammed, brought a slip bearing the official stamp of Islamic State's vice squad, known as the Hisba.
It proved that the militants had confiscated the family ration card when her son was detained for raising birds, which was forbidden under their rule.
Due to the "critical situation", aid workers said any document that reliably identified a household and its head would be accepted, including those issued by Islamic State. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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