UN ‘extremely concerned’ over conditions in west Mosul

AFP, HASANSHAM CAMP , Iraq: Living conditions in west Mosul, where jihadists are hunkering down among 750,000 Iraqi civilians, are deteriorating fast and a source of great concern, the UN’s top aid official said Wednesday.
“We are extremely concerned about the rapid deterioration of the conditions in west Mosul,” United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Iraq Lise Grande told reporters.
“Families are in big trouble, half of the shops have been closed,” she said while visiting Hasansham, a displacement camp between Mosul and Arbil, the nearby capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Iraqi federal forces have almost completely encircled Mosul, whose east side they retook from the Islamic State group last month.
Four months into a huge offensive to reconquer the jihadists’ last major stronghold in Iraq, they are now poised to launch an assault on the city’s west bank.
Slightly smaller than the east side but densely populated, the west bank is thought to shelter around three quarters of a million people who have been living in siege-like conditions for weeks.

UN extremely concerned over conditions in west Mosul

AFP, HASANSHAM CAMP , Iraq: Living conditions in west Mosul, where jihadists are hunkering down among 750,000 Iraqi civilians, are deteriorating fast and a source of great concern, the UNs top aid official said Wednesday. We are extremely concerned about the rapid deterioration of the conditions in west Mosul, United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Iraq Lise Grande told reporters. Families are in big trouble, half of the shops have been closed, she said while visiting Hasansham, a displacement camp between Mosul and Arbil, the nearby capital of Iraqs autonomous Kurdish region. Iraqi federal forces have almost completely encircled Mosul, whose east side they retook from the Islamic State group last month. Four months into a huge offensive to reconquer the jihadists last major stronghold in Iraq, they are now poised to launch an assault on the citys west bank. Slightly smaller than the east side but densely populated, the west bank is thought to shelter around three quarters of a million people who have been living in siege-like conditions for weeks.