Mosul’s children are bearing the brunt of the intensified fight between U.S.-backed government forces and the Islamic State group in the city’s western half, the United Nations children’s agency warned on Monday. Iraqi forces are in their last push to drive IS militants from the remaining pockets of territory they still hold in the Old City where narrow streets and a dense civilian population are complicating the fight.
The UNICEF Representative in Iraq, Peter Hawkins, said the agency is receiving “alarming reports” of civilians being killed, including children, with some caught in the crossfire while trying to flee. Hawkins didn’t give a specific number for killed children. He estimated that 100,000 girls and boys are still in the IS-held Old City neighborhood and other areas, living under extremely dangerous conditions. He called on the warring parties to “protect the children and keep them out of harm’s way at all times, in line with their obligations under humanitarian law.”
“Children’s lives are on the line. Children are being killed, injured and used as human shields. Children are experiencing and witnessing terrible violence that no human being should ever witness,” he said in a statement. “In some cases, they have been forced to participate in the fighting and violence,” he added.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/unicef-100000-children-…
