Hundreds more join Mosul exodus as Iraqi
forces retake two more western districts
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[April 22, 2017]
By Maher Chmaytelli
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Pushing carts
loaded with bags, babies and the elderly, hundreds of people fled Mosul
on Saturday after Iraqi forces retook two more districts in the west of
the city from Islamic State.
After walking for miles, families were taken by bus from a government
checkpoint in the south of the city to camps housing more than 410,000
people displaced since the offensive to retake Mosul began in October.
"We left with no water, food or electricity," said 63-year-old Abu
Qahtan, the elder of a group of 41 people from five families. "We left
with the clothes on our backs."
Iraqi forces have taken much of Mosul from the militants who overran the
city in June 2014. The military now controls the eastern districts and
are making advances in the west.
Islamic State fighters, holding out in the Old City, are surrounded in
the northwest and are using booby traps, sniper and mortar fire to
defend themselves.
On Saturday, artillery and gun fire could be heard as families arrived
from Hay al-Tanak district which they said was still half controlled by
the militants.
Troops, backed by helicopters, were moving towards the al-Nuri mosque
where, nearly three years ago, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
announced his self-declared caliphate spanning parts of Iraq and Syria.
A Reuters reporter, standing within sight of the mosque, saw heavy smoke
in that area after an air strike.
The U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) has retaken the nearby
al-Thaura and al-Saha districts, statements said.
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Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fires towards Islamic State
militants during a battle, west of Mosul,Iraq April 21, 2017.
REUTERS/Stringer
CTS commander Major General Maan Saadi said his troops were linking
up with Iraq's Federal Police moving in on the Old City from a
different position.
"We are completing the encirclement of the terrorists in the Old
City," he told Reuters.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped in western
Mosul, where Iraqi forces are making slow progress against Islamic
State in what is a labyrinth of narrow streets.
As of April 20, some 503,000 people have been displaced from Mosul,
of which 91,000 have returned, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee
agency UNHCR said, citing government figures.
Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, is the militants' last urban
stronghold in the country.
(Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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