150,000 displaced since launch of Mosul operation: UN

MOSUL: Iraq’s special forces troops advance during a battle against Islamic State militants in Andalus neighborhood in the eastern side of Mosul on Monday. —AP

MOSUL: Iraqi forces have captured the site of the Mosque of the Prophet Younis (PBUH) after driving Islamic State group militants from a new neighborhood in eastern Mosul, a spokesman said yesterday. The progress comes as the UN warned that nearly 150,000 people have been displaced since the Mosul operation started in mid-October. The mosque was among dozens of historical and heritage sites destroyed by IS militants after their June 2014 onslaught.

The site is believed to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah (PBUH), who was swallowed by a whale in stories from both the Bible and the holy Quran. It was built on an archaeological site dating back to the 8th century BC and attracted religious pilgrims from multiple faiths around the world.

Special forces spokesman Sabah Al-Numan told The Associated Press that security forces found only the fences alongside the ruins. The advance comes as Iraqi forces are pushing IS out of the last neighborhoods in Mosul's east and closing in on the Tigris river that roughly divides the city.

While Iraqi forces continue to make territorial gains against IS, Mosul's civilians continue to be killed, wounded and displaced by the fighting.

Walid Mohammed buried his son in a graveyard in eastern Mosul yesterday. The young boy had been killed in a mortar attack earlier this month, but at the time it was too dangerous to travel to  the graveyard so Mohammed buried him in a school yard not far from his home. "This is the will of God and his decision, he gave them and he took them back," he said. The UN said in a statement issued late Monday that the Mosul operation continues to inflict  high civilian casualties. The UN said more than 1,500 wounded civilians were taken to hospitals in the nearby city of Irbil for trauma care since the operation began in October.

The number does not reflect the estimated hundreds more civilians who receive care at field hospitals in and around Mosul. Iraqi and UN officials believe that one reason so many have been killed and wounded is that IS fighters have targeted civilians trying to flee. The operation has also left more than 148,000 people homeless, according to the statement. Nearly 12,500 people were forced to flee their homes just over the past week, the UN said. More than a million people were estimated to still be living in Mosul in October, when Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the country's second largest city from IS.

Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces pushed deeper into Islamic State-held districts in eastern Mosul yesterday, and army units battled the militants inside a military base in the north of the city, military officials said. Islamic State has been driven out of most eastern districts of its Iraqi stronghold in the three months since the US-backed campaign began. Iraqi troops have seized large areas along the river, which bisects Mosul from north to south. Capture of the entire east bank, which military officials say is imminent, will allow the army, special forces and elite police units to begin attacks on the city's west, still fully held by the militants.

"Roughly all the eastern axes for which CTS is responsible will be completed and we will announce the liberation of the entire eastern side," he said, but did not specify when. A separate military statement said the CTS had also seized Al-Muhandiseen district, nearly three miles further northwest, a short distance from the river.

In a parallel advance, Iraqi army troops in the north of the city moved into the Kindi military base, and were fighting insurgents inside, an army officer said. More than 60 neighbourhoods in eastern Mosul - out of a total of around 80 - had been recaptured since the start of the offensive in October, Numan told state television.  -Agencies