Over 100k Iraqis displaced since Mosul operation began: IOM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says over 100,000 people have been displaced amid an operation by Iraq's military and volunteer fighters to drive the Daesh Takfiri terrorists out of Mosul.

The IOM said on its displacement tracking webpage on Sunday that since October 17, 103,872 people had been displaced, mainly from Nineveh province, whose capital is Mosul.

Jassem Mohammed al-Jaff, the Iraqi minister for displacement and migration, earlier said 118,000 people had been displaced since the operation started in mid-October.

Aid organizations had already warned that one million or more people could be displaced by the operation to retake Mosul.

On October 17, Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from Hashd al-Sha’abi or the Popular Mobilization Units, and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation to retake Mosul from Daesh.

Forces from Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service have advanced deep into eastern Mosul over the past few weeks.

The advance of Iraqi forces has, however, been slowed down due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom are prevented from leaving Mosul by Daesh.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir