Relief workers extract 12 civilian corpses from Mosul’s Old City
FILE PHOTO: A member of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) walks at the site after an air strike attack against Islamic State triggered a massive explosion in Mosul, Iraq March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi relief teams recovered 12 dead bodies of civilians from western Mosul’s Old City, hours after government forces declared victory over Islamic State militants in the region.
Almaalomah website said civil defense teams recovered the bodies of civilians who had died from bombardments on their houses during the battles between IS and U.S.backed Iraqi troops.
Throughout Iraq’s eight-month war against IS in Mosul, hundreds of civilians died in security and U.S.-led coalition strikes as well as in Islamic State attacks. Many were also targeted or caught and later executed by IS for fleeing the group’s domains to others held by security forces.
The United Nations, coalition members, Iraqi generals and local aid groups have regularly accused IS members of holding civilians as human shields, a situation they said caused occasional slowdowns in operations seeking to free the city.
Violence and armed conflicts left more than 700 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of June, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq which excludes security members deaths. Nineveh topped the chart in terms of casualties numbers, recording 382.
Iraq PM Haider al-Abadi declared victory over IS in Mosul on Monday, hailing the end of the group’s self-styled “caliphate” established in 2014.