Mosul: United Nations says 10,500 displaced as a result of military operations

United Nations: More than 10,500 people have to date been recorded as internally displaced as a result of the Mosul military operation in Iraq, a United Nations spokesman told reporters on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_3075358” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] “The majority of the displaced are sheltering in host communities while others are sheltering at three displacement camps outside of Mosul,” Xinhua news agency quoted UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric as saying. Humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance to displaced families and wherever access allows, he said. Iraqi security forces recaptured more villages last Tuesday from the Islamic State militants, as part of a major offensive which started on 17 October in a bid to liberate the city of Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq. Mosul, nearly 400 km from Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control. Earlier on Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 7,000 Iraqi people are internally displaced as a result of the Mosul military operation in Iraq. “The situation is fluid and the numbers and patterns of displacement are fluctuating as the front lines move,” Stephane Dujarric was quoted as saying at a daily news briefing on Monday.