10,000 Iraqis return to Mosul after brief displacement: MP
Displaced families in Iraq. File photo.
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Ten thousand civilians have returned to their village residences in Nineveh after briefly leaving the city due to ongoing battles seeking to liberate it from the Islamic State militant group, an Iraqi parliament member said on Wednesday.
Abdel Rahim al-Shemari, a parliament member from Nineveh, said in a press statement, “A segment of displaced Nineveh residents, amounting to nearly 10,000, left homes at 15 villages for a few days and returned after liberation,” pointing out that, “Another segment left the province since the start of battles in October 17th, and those stand at 9000 persons.”
In September, US Department of State estimated that more than one million people would migrate from Mosul as battles to free the city begin. The United Nations gave a similar estimate on Tuesday.
Iraqi government forces, backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga troops and US-led international air forces, are proceeding with an all-out battle to free Mosul, the Islamic State’s last bastion in Iraq. Operations have proven to be largely successful, with the Islamic State reportedly evacuating its wounded fighters from hospitals, closing down its secret prisons and facing food shortages.