BAGHDAD/ MOSUL, Iraq — The United Nations expressed profound concern on Saturday over reports of an incident in the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul that caused a high number of civilian casualties.
“We are stunned by this terrible loss of life,” Lise Grande, the humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Iraqi government forces paused in their push to recapture western Mosul from Daesh (the so-called IS) militants on Saturday because of the high rate of civilian casualties, a security forces spokesman said.
Residents escaping the besieged area have told of Iraqi and US-led coalition airstrikes demolishing buildings and killing numerous civilians.
The insurgents have also used civilians as human shields and opened fire on them as they try to escape Daesh-held neighborhoods, fleeing residents said.
The US-backed offensive to drive Daesh out of Mosul, now in its sixth month, has recaptured most of the city. The entire eastern side and about half of the west is under Iraqi control.
But advances have stuttered in the last two weeks as fighting enters the narrow alleys of the Old City.
“The recent high death toll among civilians inside the Old City forced us to halt operations to review our plans,” a Federal Police spokesman said on Saturday. “It’s a time for weighing new offensive plans and tactics. No combat operations are to go on.”
Local officials and residents said on Thursday that dozens of people were buried in collapsed buildings after an air raid against Daesh triggered a huge explosion last week. Bodies are still being pulled from the ruins.
The coalition has said the reports are being investigated.
“We need to make sure that taking out Daesh from the Old City will not cost unwanted high casualties among civilians. We need surgical accurate operations to target terrorists without causing collateral damage among residents,” the Federal Police spokesman said.
An army statement published in the Al-Sabah state newspaper said that future operations would be carried out by ground troops highly trained for urban combat.
“Our heroic forces are committed to the rules of engagement which ensure protection of civilians” the statement said.
A US deputy commanding general for the coalition said on Friday that the solution could lie in a change of tactics. The Iraqi military is assessing opening up another front and isolating the Old City, where the militants have put up fierce resistance, US Army Brigadier General John Richardson said.
Fleeing residents have described grim living conditions inside the city, saying there was no running water or electricity and no food coming in. Aid agencies say as many as 600,000 civilians remain in the western half of Mosul.
But families are streaming out of the northern city, Iraq’s second largest, in their thousands each day, headed for cold, crowded camps or to stay with relatives. Hunger and fighting are making life unbearable inside. — Reuters
