In Iraq, U.S.-allied forces pushed deeper into Mosul over the weekend, seeking to recapture the city from ISIS. Iraq’s army said it was poised to capture all ISIS-controlled territory east of the Tigris River. Residents of the city said the fighting had forced them to bury the dead at a neighborhood school rather than a proper cemetery.
Alaa Mostafa: “Civilians are buried here. After being liberated, ISIS targeted this area. Any civilian living in locations outside their rule is deemed as an apostate. So ISIS snipers would target civilians as they walked down the streets, resulting in deaths. There are no cemeteries. We can’t go to the cemeteries, so we had to bury people in this school.”
The U.N. said Monday that fighting in Mosul has left nearly 150,000 homeless, with more than 12,000 Iraqis forced to flee their homes in the last week alone.