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Starving civilians and suicide bombings: The terrible truth of liberating Mosul

Large military vehicles were never supposed to be part of the battle for the Old City – its ancient streets are too narrow. But the intensity of the airstrikes in the final stages of the offensive against so-called Islamic State has been so great that armoured bulldozers now plough their way through. Iraq’s armed forces […]

Tom Westcott writes for IRIN:

Large military vehicles were never supposed to be part of the battle for the Old City – its ancient streets are too narrow. But the intensity of the airstrikes in the final stages of the offensive against so-called Islamic State has been so great that armoured bulldozers now plough their way through.

Iraq’s armed forces are still battling for the final area of the city held by IS, known in Arabic by the acronym “Daesh”.

The extent of the destruction is shocking. Most buildings are just empty facades, many flattened to rubble. When a group of civilians – mostly women and children – appears beneath rising pillars of smoke from the battlefield beyond, their presence is like a miracle. It seems inconceivable anyone could have made it out of this terrible landscape alive.