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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Around 200 people fleeing from the war-torn city of Mosul were forced to stay overnight at the makeshift camp of Omar Qamchi on Friday, 12 km southeast of cit, waiting to be moved to official camps.
This comes at a time where tens of thousands of civilians has fled the ongoing war in Mosul as the US-backed Iraqi offensive to retake the city from the so-called Islamic State enters its second month.
Most of the families fled on Thursday, but for some the short journey took them more than a week, moving only under the cover at night.
A fleeing family said they fled their village, 3 km away from Mosul, when the extremist group threatened to take them to Mosul city to be used as human shield.
ISIS had taken an estimated 1,600 civilians to Mosul to shield themselves from airstrikes, the office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights reported two weeks ago.
The Mosul offensive has resumed on Friday in the city’s eastern districts after a calm day yesterday.
The fleeing people were forced to stay at the makeshift camp overnight after they were barred from leaving.
They hoped they will be allowed to leave to official camps later in the day.
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