The United Nations said on Thursday up to 200,000 more people could flee Mosul as Iraqi forces push into the last districts held by Islamic State militants. Iraqi authorities and aid agencies are already struggling to cope with a surge in displacement since security forces opened a new front against the militants in Mosul earlier this month. The militants, however, still control the Old City, where they are expected to make their last stand in the densely populated, narrow streets that are impassable for armored vehicles. “As military operations intensify and move closer to Mosul’s Old City area, we expect that up to 200,000 more people will flee,” Lise Grande, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq said in a statement, describing the figures as “alarming”. Human Rights Watch said on Thursday the Iraqi army and other local security forces had forced over 300 displaced families to return to districts of Mosul that are still at risk of attack by Islamic State.

Source: Egypt Independent May 18, 2017 13:30 UTC