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Over 1,000 Civilians Evacuated From Mosul Front Lines to Khazer Refugee Camp

Families who fled villages near Mosul were reunited in Khazer refugee camp on Wednesday, October 26, after two years of being separated by Islamic State’s incursion. More than 1,000 civilians have been moved from villages near the front lines in east Mosul to Khazer camp, as Iraqi special forces prepare to retake the city from the militant group.

Footage released by Kurdish media outlet Rudaw shows men reunited with their parents, kissing their hands and feet in a show of respect.

Special forces Maj Gen Haider Fadhil said residents of Tob Zawa village, and other nearby towns, were taken to the camp in the Khazer region “for their safety,” according to the Associated Press.

The United Nations has warned of an impending humanitarian crisis amid the campaign to retake Mosul from Islamic State. The UN Refugee Agency said it had stepped up efforts to assist hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the region.

Speaking at a press conference in Jordan on Monday, October 24, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said 7,500 people living on the outskirts of Mosul had already fled and 1,000 Iraqis had crossed the Syrian border to seek refuge in Hasakeh province.

The UN Refugee Agency is preparing 11 facilities in Iraq, including five already set up, in anticipation of large-scale displacement from Iraq’s second largest city, which they warn could reach one million people. Credit: Facebook/Rudaw