Iraq: Slow progress in Mosul leads to medical crisis

Locals from the Iraqi city of Mosul have said that the slow progress of government operations to recapture the city from Daesh has led to starvation due to increasing number of casualties among civilians and severe shortage of food, Alkhaleejonline.com reported yesterday.

The military operation to retake Mosul that has been out of government control for almost two and a half years has entered its second month, with Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) struggling to penetrate neighbourhoods positioned near the eastern edge of the city for weeks

The vast majority of the city, Iraq’s second largest, is still under Daesh control.

Sources in Mosul were cited as saying hospitals were unable to receive the increasing number of casualties resulting from the ongoing battles.

There is also a shortage of medical equipment and staff, with hospital workers saying that more than 250 civilians died as a result of ISF and US-led coalition bombardment, with hundreds more wounded.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses were cited by Alkhaleejonline.com as saying that Daesh had announced via mosque loudspeakers that it considered all people in recaptured neighbourhoods as apostates. This means that Daesh considers they should be put to death.

The witnesses also said that Daesh started using a new way to use civilians as human shields, as they have begun to force families to live in the same accommodations as members of their own families in order to reduce the risk they are exposed to.