Residents of villages around Mosul airport are fleeing to Iraqi army lines and urging the national forces to advance. "We want the army to advance to our areas. We have left our families behind. I couldn't bring them because there might bombs on the way. ISIS has left, only 4 to 6 fighters were left there," one man told Rudaw.
The displaced people (IDPs) said that they have no food, water, or medicine. "Our children are dying," said one man from Saramun.
A doctor among the IDPs said that even ISIS no longer has medicine, saying most the medication the militants have is expired.
Western Mosul is under virtual siege and facing shortages of basic supplies. The UN and aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster inside the city.
Iraqi security forces have so far taken over 120 square km of land in the fourth day of the offensive to retake the western half of the city. Mosul airport and Ghazlania military base, on the southern edges of the city, are the first main targets.
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