Iraq: 25 children die of hunger in Mosul due to ISIS blockade; thousands more at risk

Children continue to suffer in Mosul, where the Iraqi Army, aided by security forces supported by the US, have all but pushed out the Islamic State group — also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — and liberated the once-stronghold of the terrorist outfit.

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Children have been one of the primary victims of the battle for Mosul, with ISIS cutting off water supply in many parts of the region. And this has been the case since December last year. The United Nations has been trying its best to get humanitarian aid to Mosul, but even that has been stopped just days ago owing to security concerns.

Current situation in Mosul

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) has been quoted by Iraqi News as saying that 25 children — from one month to three years of age — died of hunger in January alone in the parts of Mosul still held by ISIS, due to the shortage of food in those areas. The monitor has blamed the scarcity of "baby milk, supplementary nutrition and potable water" for this development, and also said that another 140,000 children are still suffering because of this.

The IOHR said that ISIS has "intentionally barred merchants from importing any foodstuff except for group members and their families." As a result, there is "not enough food for women to be able to breastfeed infants." After all, a mother has to consume enough to produce milk for her child.

UN aid stopped

Meanwhile, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande has been quoted by agencies as saying about the stoppage of aid to Mosul: "Based on reports of insecurity, the UN decided that we would not send missions into eastern parts of Mosul until we reassess security conditions. This has now been done and we expect to re-engage as soon as possible, hopefully within the next day or so."

Mosul has witnessed protracted unrest, even after most parts of it has been liberated from ISIS. And this has been true of most other parts of Iraq and Syria from where ISIS has retreated, primarily because the terrorist group has been trying to regain its hold in these two countries.