Operation government forces and their allies to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul could take months. About it in interview Reuters was declared by the Director of operations International Committee of the red cross (ICRC) Dominique Stillhart.
“It is likely that we will see a prolonged confrontation with the very serious suffering of the people, which again will be trapped between two fronts”, he said.
According to him, the militants of the terrorist group “Islamic state” (IG, is prohibited in Russia) have a significant resistance, and therefore, will increase the intensity of the clashes, which hurt civilians. “Especially during street fighting”, — said the representative of the ICRC.
December 1, Reuters, citing data from the us military reported that the Pentagon has acknowledged the deaths of 54 civilians in Iraq and Syria as a result of the air strikes of the US-led coalition from March to October of this year. Thus, the total official number of victims of such attacks in 2014 has risen to 174 people.
On October 26 of this year, Amnesty International issued a statement, according to which, beginning in 2014 as a result of the coalition strikes killed at least 300 civilians.
Mosul more than two years is under the control of militants. Ground military operation to liberate the city began on 17 October. In addition to government forces in Iraq are participating in Kurdish, as well as the international coalition led by the USA, which supported the offensive from the air and provides artillery support.