Over 200,000 people displaced due to Mosul offensive, deputy UN spokesman says

Civilian displacement out of western Mosul in Iraq continued over the weekend, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said here Monday, adding that the number of people displaced from both east and west Mosul tops 200,000.
"The number of people displaced from western Mosul alone since the military operation began on 19 February is approaching 46,000," Haq said at a daily news briefing here."The number of people currently displaced from east and west Mosul combined is 206,500."
"Emergency assistance, including ready-to-eat food, water and blankets, is being provided at mustering points and security screening sites, and families receive further assistance once they proceed to displacement areas," he said.
Humanitarian partners continue to race to establish space in camps and emergency sites for those displaced, he noted.
Currently space for almost 77,000 people is available, and work is ongoing to further expand and establish new sites, Haq said. "Public buildings are also being investigated as additional emergency shelter sites."
Displaced Iraqis flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, in western Mosul, Iraq March 6, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
Over the weekend, humanitarian workers were able to distribute emergency assistance inside western Mosul for the first time. Some 200 families in a south-western neighbourhood received emergency packages of food rations, water, and hygiene supplies.
Mosul witnessed a fighting between the Iraqi government forces and Islamic State (IS/Da'esh) terrorists
The Iraqi government force's advance toward Mosul came after the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Feb. 19 the start of an offensive to drive the extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River which bisects the city.
Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of the eastern side of Mosul, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against the Islamic State (IS) militants.
However, the western side of Mosul, with its narrow streets and a heavy population of between 750,000 and 800,000, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces, according to the United Nations estimates.
Mosul, 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.