Retaking Iraq’s IS-held Mosul likely to prove tricky, costly

The group’s regional director for the Near and Middle East, Robert Mardini, said it is preparing for the worst, particularly in the Mosul area.

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad- Quoting a report published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a well placed source informed that over one million people could be displaced from their homes as fighting intensify in different areas of Iraq, especially around Mosul.

The flight of so many people could pose a “massive humanitarian problem” for Iraq, the Geneva-based aid group said. “Hundreds of thousands of people may very well be on the move in the coming weeks and months, seeking shelter and assistance”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday the killings had taken place “in the last 24 hours” after jihadis retook a village called Buyir from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance.

Mosul was once home to some two million people, but the current population has been estimated at around half that figure, with the number of those fleeing their homes increasing.

Iraqi security forces launched an offensive to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State control in March.

Iraqi forces are conducting operations to set the stage for an assault on Mosul, the country’s second city that has been held by IS since June 2014, but the final push to retake it is likely still months away.

Overall, some 2.6 million Iraqis have fled the country since the beginning of the crisis in January 2014 when ISIL overran large swaths of the country, according to United Nations figures.

In 2014, Daesh militants overran Mosul and vast territory in northern and western Iraq.

Army, police and counter-terrorism forces are expected to participate, backed by air support from a USA -led coalition.