An Iraqi refugee who fledMosul, the last major Iraqi city under the control of the Islamic State (IS) group, due to the Iraqi government forces offensive to retake the city, carries jerry tanks at the UN-run Al-Hol refugee camp in Syria's Hasakeh province, on October 25, 2016. (AFP PHOTO/DELIL SOULEIMAN)
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that more than 10,500 people have to date been recorded as internally displaced as a result of the Mosul military operation in Iraq, a UN spokesman told reporters here Wednesday.
"The majority of the displaced are sheltering in host communities," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "Others are sheltering at three displacement camps outside of Mosul."
Humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance to displaced families and wherever access allows, he said.
Meanwhile, oil smoke and sulphur dioxide from oil and sulphur fires near al-Qayyarah continue to cause health risks for the civilian population in the area, he added.
Iraqi security forces recaptured more villages last Tuesday from the IS militants, as part of a major offensive which started on Oct. 17 in a bid to liberate the city of Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq.
Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
