First time aid enters West Mosul

The International Committee of the Red Cross is carrying out a major distribution of food and other essential items to more than 64,000 people in West Mosul. This is not only the first such distribution of its kind since the western part of the city was recaptured by the authorities on 10th July, but the first major delivery of aid to the area since Mosul was cut off from the world in 2014.

Much of West Mosul has been devastated by the fighting, with private homes, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, electricity plants and water systems in ruins. The population –the few who had stayed throughout the military offensive, families who returned home, and those displaced from other inaccessible yet neighborhoods– have to struggle to put food on the table. Access to food or water is either limited, or high market prices make essential supplies out of reach for many.

At the same time, wounded people keep arriving to medical facilities, after being wounded by unexploded ordnance hidden under the rubble of their homes. Since the Mosul operations started in October 2016, the ICRC has helped more than 1.4 million people, including internally displaced, returnees, and host communities.

Original source: International Committee of the Red Cross. 
Posted on 21 August 2017.