Battle for Mosul: Daesh Militants Camouflaged as Fleeing Civilians

Local Editor

Amidst the ongoing humanitarian disaster in the besieged Mosul and as the operation to liberate the city's western region from the Takfiri Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] continues, the Iraqi security forces tighten refugee screening process' to prevent Takfiri militants from escaping.

Intensified fighting in western Mosul resulted in a dramatic surge in civilian population displacement with 12,700 people fleeing the battle zone over the past two days alone, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] said. Humanitarian situation worsens, as fighting approaches more densely populated areas of the city.

"So far today [Tuesday], we have around 300 displaced people - men and women and children," Iraqi Brigadier General Salman Hashem told AFP, speaking only about one checkpoint.

With the support of the US-led coalition, Iraqi forces began the operation to retake western part of Mosul from Daesh on February 19. The Iraqi army and allied forces had recaptured several areas on the southern outskirts of the city, including the international airport area, an army base, and two southern neighborhoods.

Some 16,500 people had been displaced during these advances, and only 8,800 of them had so far been distributed among camps and emergency sites, according to OCHA. Many of the refugees are forced to sleep in the desert during their escape from the besieged city and arrive at emergency sites "exhausted and dehydrated."
"They're coming to us after days without food," Hashem said.

The escaping civilians also become twin targets; for coalition airstrikes and Daesh, who deliberately shell and snipe the fleeing residents.

So far only 85,000 more people can be housed within prepared emergency camps and shelters, while some 400,000 civilians can potentially flee the battle zone as the offensive continues, according to UN estimates.

UN's humanitarian partners have prepositioned various assets to help displaced civilians, namely 41,700 tents, 49,000 kits of "basic household items," and 77,000 "emergency shelter kits." Despite such preparations, the situation remains quite "challenging," OCHA said.

Even though humanitarian organizations have enough place to allocate refugees so far, the housing process goes quite slowly, as Iraqi security forces thoroughly screen the arriving civilians, especially men.

Security forces expect Daesh members, especially non-combatants and those who did not hold any public positions, to try and mix with the refugees to slip out of the besieged city, an Iraqi intelligence officer told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Security forces rely on databases of known Daesh members, local informants, and their own professional flair.

"We have a mechanism. We have names and sources but even so, we don't know all of them. But there are people who cooperate; most of them are cooperative," the intelligence officer said. "You can tell because [fleeing Daesh members] are afraid. Those who are not Daesh are also afraid but it's different from the fear of those who are with Daesh."

Up to 6,000 Daesh militants could be inside Mosul, according to Iraqi military's estimates cited at the start of operations, Reuters reported.

Iraqi army commanders said that some 3,300 had been martyred in the battle for Mosul's outskirts and the eastern part of the city so far.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team