The United Nations says it is rushing to build camps to accommodate what it expects to be a mass exodus from Mosul once a battle begins for Iraq’s second city.
Members of Iraqi counter-terrorism forces take part in training under the command of international military instructors in Baghdad on March 20, 2016, as they preparare for a future operation aimed at retaking the northern city of Mosul. (AFP /SABAH ARAR)
The UN refugee agency warns that an expected battle to liberate Mosul, the Islamic State group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq, is likely to “dramatically worsen” the displacement situation in the country.
Iraq is already facing one of the world’s biggest displacement crises, with 3.38 million people forced to flee their homes in the country since 2014.
In just the past few months alone, 213,000 people have been forced from their homes across the country, including around 48,000 who have fled Mosul, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards tells reporters in Geneva.
“The humanitarian impact of a military offensive there is expected to be enormous,” he said, cautioning that as many as 1.2 million civilians could be affected.
— AFP
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