While the Iraqi government has urged civilians to stay in their homes during the invasion of Mosul, several months into the fighting many aren’t finding that so easy, and over a thousand civilians have fled the southwestern part of the city, a dangerous trek to an uncertain future in refugee camps.
While the military has been shuttling civilians who get a certain distance out of Mosul into the camps, tgetting that far isn’t easy, and reports suggest over 50 casualties among civilians so far just from landmines that scatter through the area.
Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul has been under ISIS control for over two years, and the ongoing invasion of Mosul has been ongoing for several months now, with the western half of the city just now being entered by Iraqi forces, at a very slow pace.
With months more of fighting likely, a lot of families are facing the difficult choice of staying or fleeing, and either choice comes with considerable risk. Between ISIS snipers and Shi’ite militias looking to purge “ISIS collaborators” fleeing the city, that risk is going to continue to loom large even after the city is proclaimed to have been liberated.