Migration Ministry: Refugees since Nineveh operations launched up to 40.000
Refugees from Mosul. Representational photo
(Iraqinews.com) Nineveh–The number of refugees escaping homes since the start of security offensives on Mosul in October has jumped to more than 40.000, the Migration and Displacement Ministry said on Wednesday.
Minister Jassim Mohamed said in a statement that “the number of refugees at ministry-run camps since the launch of operations to liberate Nineveh has stood at 40202,” adding that the ministry’s field squads received on Wednesday 3018 refugees from six regions in Nineveh and two in Kirkuk.
Those refugees were transferred to ministry camps in Nineveh, Kirkuk and Salahuddin, and were offered food and in-kind aid upon their arrival, the statement said.
In the meantime, 2168 people returned to their original residences in Nineveh, the minister added.
In July, the United Nations said that battles between Islamic State fighters in Mosul and Iraqi joint forces seeking to liberate the city could lead to a humanitarian crisis requiring aid worth US$2 billion, speculating huge losses of civilian lives.
Iraqi government forces, assisted by US air forces and Shia militias, have been leading an all-out campaign against ISIS in Mosul, seeking to liberate the group’s last haven in the country.