Mosul battle: Children return to schools in recaptured east

Thousands of Iraqi children are heading back to school
 in eastern areas of Mosul that have been cleared of
 Islamic State militants by government forces.

The UN Children's Fund said 30 schools had reopened
 on Sunday, allowing 16,000 children to resume their education after two years of jihadist rule.

Iraq's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, has announced that
 the east of the city is now fully clear of IS.

However, deadly fighting was reported in eastern districts
 on Tuesday.

Photos published by Reuters news agency show Iraqi 
soldiers examining the dead bodies of IS fighters in what
 is said to be the Intisar district.

Further north, also east of the River Tigris, Iraqi troops
 said they had liberated the Rashidiyah district, as well as
 the villages of Haditha and Jurf al-Milih.

Government-led forces began their offensive against IS
 in Mosul in October. It is the group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq but the jihadist group still controls several large towns and large parts of Syria.

Unicef said it was supporting the Iraqi authorities in their efforts to rehabilitate, equip and open schools as the 
security situation improved in previously contested areas. 

Many buildings were used for military purposes or were
 badly damaged by the fighting.

School supplies for 120,000 students in eastern Mosul
 have been put in place and Unicef is retraining teachers, introduce accelerated learning programmes for children
 and launch in awareness campaigns against violence.

"After the nightmare of the past two years, this is a pivotal
moment for the children of Mosul to reclaim their education and their hope for a better future," said Peter Hawkins, Unicef
representative in Iraq.

Another 13,200 children living in camps outside Mosul,
 who are among the 180,000 people who have fled the city since the government launched an offensive 100 days ago, are also being helped to get an education.

Also on Tuesday, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for 
Iraq expressed deep concern for the estimated 750,000 civilians trapped in IS-held western Mosul, as troops
 prepare to retake it.

"The reports from inside western Mosul are distressing,
" she said in a statement also signed by 20 international
 and local aid groups.

"All the evidence points to a sharply deteriorating situation. 

The prices of basic food and supplies are soaring. Water 
and electricity are intermittent in neighbourhoods and 
many families without income are eating only once a day. 

Others are being forced to burn furniture to stay warm."

Ms Grande could not rule out the possibility of siege-like
conditions or a mass exodus, and noted that almost half of
 all casualties from Mosul had been civilians, with many
 killed by booby-traps, caught in crossfire or used as human shields