Scenes of panic as hundreds of Iraqis flee Mosul
MOSUL, Iraq — They came by the hundreds — men, women and children fleeing the battle for Mosul, some bloodied and crying out for help. So large was the crowd on the road that Iraqi troops initially ordered them back, worried that an Islamic State suicide bomber could be hiding among them.
Mosul’s residents are fleeing in growing numbers as Iraqi forces push deeper into the country’s second largest city, and the battle-hardened extremists are fighting for every block, exploiting the dense urban terrain and using civilians as human shields.
On Wednesday the tide of displaced people reached the Samah district, where Iraqi medics treated dozens of wounded, including at least six soldiers.
At one point, four children and a man from the same family were rushed into the station, bleeding heavily as their relatives wailed in grief. A mortar round had slammed into the inner courtyard of their home. A few minutes after being brought to the aid station, a 16-month-old girl with a head wound was pronounced dead.