Alwaght- More than 200,000 civilians have been displaced since October 2016 when Iraqi army launched a large-scale operation to recapture the country's second-largest city, Mosul, from ISIS terrorist group.
Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a report on Sunday, saying the total number of those displaced from Mosul since the onset of Mosul Operation has surpassed 206,000.
The Iraqi army, backed by allied popular fighters, launched the Mosul liberation battle on 17 October 2016, and managed to claw back the eastern half of the city some 100 days later in January.
Late last month Iraqi forces began second phase of Mosul Liberation operation to liberate the western side of the northern city from ISIS grasp.
The IOM further said the number included 45,000, who have fled the western sector of Mosul since February to the sites set up for the displaced.
According to the civilians who have managed to flee Mosul, the Takfiri terrorists have resorted to brutal executions or inhuman torture tactics to prevent people from escaping the city or cooperating
In the latest gain against ISIS, Iraqi forces took control of Mosul’s al-Hurriya Bridge, which leads to ISIS-held old city center from the south.
This is the second bridge taken back from the terror group since the start of the Iraqi offensive on Mosul’s western front on February 19.
There are five bridges over Tigris River, which divides Mosul in the two halves. All of them have been destroyed by ISIS, but their recapture and reconstruction would help facilitate the new Iraqi army push.
