International aid for the people of Mosul has begun
arriving in Iraq, as the offensive continues to oust ISIL from its
last major urban stronghold in the country.
In Erbil, the Turkish Red Crescent dropped off more than 530
tons of supplies on Tuesday including food, clothing, tents and
blankets as camps spring up to accommodate those fleeing the
fighting. The United Nations believes up to one million people
could be displaced.
As Iraqi government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters
approach the outer limits of the city where ISIL proclaimed its
‘caliphate’ two years ago, a mass exodus of civilians from within
is expected. So far, many of those fleeing have come from towns and
villages outside Mosul.
The first force to get near to Mosul, advancing to within two
kilometres of Iraq’s second largest city, was the elite US-trained
Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
While progress made so far has been widely hailed, the combat
ahead is likely to be more difficult and deadly because of the
presence of large numbers of civilians.
It is also feared that so-called Islamic State could use
rudimentary chemical weapons to try to hold back the impending
assault and use civilians as human shields.
Well over a week into this US-backed offensive, these are still
the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest
military operation in Iraq in over a decade.
For now, aid agencies are helping those they can and bracing for
a much bigger challenge ahead.