West Mosul Civilians Caught in Zone of Death Between Daesh, Coalition Forces

The Iraqi Army supported by the Western anti-terrorist coalition is continuing its offensive to liberate western Mosul from Daesh. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Dr. Lily Hamourtziadou, a senior researcher for the Iraq Body Count project, said that the humanitarian situation in the terrorist held areas of the city is simply catastrophic.

On Thursday, Iraqi forces announced that they had completed the liberation of Mosul airport from Daesh.

The operation to liberate the city from the terrorists, which began late last year, ratcheted up in January, after Iraqi and US-led coalition forces captured the eastern half of the city, and began the offensive to take the western half.

Speaking to Radio Sputnik about that effort, Dr. Lily Hamourtziadou said that the situation for civilians in west Mosul is simply catastrophic.

"Speaking for February alone, half of the civilians killed in Iraq have been killed in Mosul. So both the presence of ISIS [Daesh] in Mosul, and the assault on Mosul by coalition forces and the Iraqi government, have meant that the humanitarian toll is very high," Hamourtziadou said.

Unfortunately, it is estimated that up to half of the recent civilian casualties have been caused by Iraqi and coalition attacks, she added.

Hamourtziadou stressed that there are now "very few options" for civilians in the western part of the city to escape the assault. "On a daily basis there are executions in Mosul by ISIS of people trying to escape. Those that do manage to escape have a very high chance of being killed by an airstrike, so it is very, very dire."

Furthermore, she noted that "as in any other warzone, there are very few supplies; there is little food. Already this month we've had [reports of] children starving to death in Mosul."

In the lead-up to the assault on the eastern portion of the city, Iraqi authorities set up two camps for refugees. The situation in those two camps aren't great, Hamourtziadou noted, but at least the civilians can stay alive. "It is winter in Iraq as well," she said. "The conditions are very bad. They have very few resources and they're very cold. But at least in those camps they are safe." Unfortunately, due to the ongoing violence, similar camps cannot be established anywhere near the western portion of the city.

Asked why US and Iraqi planners haven't seemed to factor in the inevitable humanitarian issues that resulted from the assault, Hamourtziadou noted that the answer was simple: "They never do…This was not a factor during the assault on Fallujah, or indeed any other assault that has been waged by Western forces or by the Iraqi government. As a result, there are always civilian casualties – every time," the researcher lamented.

Ultimately, Hamourtziadou stressed that her organization's aim is to document the violence, allowing this information to be used by anyone who wants to hold those who are responsible for the catastrophe to account. "So far, no one has been held accountable," she stressed.