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MOSUL, Iraq — With Iraqi forces backed by the US-led international coalition striking the remaining three ISIS-held districts of western Mosul and civilians telling stories of being used as human shields and targeted for fleeing, the stench of rotting bodies is heavy in the hot summer air.
"The longer you search, the more bodies you find," reported Rudaw correspondent Hunar Ahmed, who has been embedded with the Iraqi federal police.
Peering into the rubble of what was a home, Ahmed says "There seems to be many bodies inside as smell is coming out of it."
“Credible reports indicate that more than 231 civilians attempting to flee western Mosul have been killed since 26 May, including at least 204 over three days last week alone,” reads a June 8 statement from the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) in which it cited reports of between 50 and 80 civilian deaths in Zanjily after a May 31 strike.
Barefooted civilians are trying to reach safety amid constant fire. Children can be seen bleeding with bandaged heads.
Ahmed reported those who have fled as saying ISIS is indiscriminately targeting everyone, even children.
Some of the slain were recognized by their families. Others are still there as they were not recognized by anyone.
The face of a teenage boy was found burned in a house with his father's ID lain beside him.
"We entered the house with two to three bodies laid in each room," Ahmed reported.
Akram Ibrahim, a Kurdish soldier serving within the Iraqi army, told Rudaw about discovering 84-year-old Naima Mohammed in a house in western Mosul that he said was bombed on May 21 in the Najar neighborhood.
The US-led international coalition told Rudaw English that the information provided regarding the 34 corpses found in Najar "may match a report that [the coalition's civilian casuality team] is yet to assess."
Just the Old Mosul, al-Sinjar and Shifa districts haven't been announced cleared of the 1,000-or-fewer ISIS militants believed to remain near where ISIS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi declared the so-called Islamic Caliphate on June 29, 2014.
"The longer you search, the more bodies you find," reported Rudaw correspondent Hunar Ahmed, who has been embedded with the Iraqi federal police.
Peering into the rubble of what was a home, Ahmed says "There seems to be many bodies inside as smell is coming out of it."
“Credible reports indicate that more than 231 civilians attempting to flee western Mosul have been killed since 26 May, including at least 204 over three days last week alone,” reads a June 8 statement from the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) in which it cited reports of between 50 and 80 civilian deaths in Zanjily after a May 31 strike.
Barefooted civilians are trying to reach safety amid constant fire. Children can be seen bleeding with bandaged heads.
Ahmed reported those who have fled as saying ISIS is indiscriminately targeting everyone, even children.
Some of the slain were recognized by their families. Others are still there as they were not recognized by anyone.
The face of a teenage boy was found burned in a house with his father's ID lain beside him.
"We entered the house with two to three bodies laid in each room," Ahmed reported.
Akram Ibrahim, a Kurdish soldier serving within the Iraqi army, told Rudaw about discovering 84-year-old Naima Mohammed in a house in western Mosul that he said was bombed on May 21 in the Najar neighborhood.
“When we got to the spot, we saw the house was completely destroyed, a nasty smell was coming out of it. I went inside and passed all the rubble through a hole. When I got inside I found [34] corpses. Only Naima was alive,” he said when he first visited the site a week after the bombing while providing footage of the rescue.
The US-led international coalition told Rudaw English that the information provided regarding the 34 corpses found in Najar "may match a report that [the coalition's civilian casuality team] is yet to assess."
Ahmed reported planes have begun bombing the surroundings of the al-Hadba Minaret and al-Nuri Mosque for the first time.
Just the Old Mosul, al-Sinjar and Shifa districts haven't been announced cleared of the 1,000-or-fewer ISIS militants believed to remain near where ISIS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi declared the so-called Islamic Caliphate on June 29, 2014.
“Tens of bodies of civilians are in Shifa neighborhood with some targeted by warplanes and others used as human shields by ISIS,” Ahmed reported. “The group would to place them inside the houses while they would fight the Iraqi forces on the rooftops.”
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