435,000 displaced from Iraq's Mosul since February: UN

At least 435,000 people have been displaced from Iraq's Mosul city since the military operations on its western neighbourhoods began on February 19, a UN spokesperson said.

"Over 403,000 are currently displaced from western Mosul city, while some 31,000 people have been able to return to retaken parts of western Mosul city," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a daily news briefing on Monday.

People who remain in parts held by the Islamic State (IS) in west Mosul "are facing serious shortages of almost all commodities", as commercial supplies to these areas have been cut since last November, said Dujarric.

Some cases of acute malnutrition were reported in infants arriving with their families from western Mosul.

More than 95,000 people have received ready-to-eat food rations in all accessible neighbourhoods of western Mosul city; over 70,000 have received 30-day dry food rations in at least 11 neighbourhoods, the spokesperson added.

--IANS

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