Thousands return to Iraq's Mosul as fighting continues

More than 46,000 people go back to homes in
east of city despite fierce fighting between ISIL
and government forces.




More than 46,000 people who fled Iraq's Mosul as 
fighting raged have returned to the eastern part of the 
city over the past two weeks in an attempt to restart their lives.

US-backed Iraqi government forces say they have now 
taken a quarter of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and
 the Levant group, though fighting in parts of the east continues.

ISIL still largely controls the western side of city, which is
divided by the River Tigris.

A source, reporting from the outskirts of
Mosul, said that people were determined to return despite
 the risks.

"They prefer to go back home rather than staying .. in
 camps. or with extended family," he said. "ISIL propaganda has showed recent drone hits and mortars being fired 
towards areas now under Iraqi control. Many here feel
 air strikes and shelling have caused most of the damage to their city."

Social media was being used to mobilise returning 
residents to rebuild the city.

"In many neighbourhoods, cleaning campaigns are being
organised, but with so much destruction and so little 
money, they can only do so much," Javaid said.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that it was 
temporarily halting aid operations to neighbourhoods
 in the east that are under constant attack from ISIL fighters.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said 
UN agencies had "made the decision that until security improves it will be difficult for us to provide assistance."

While life is resuming in some eastern Mosul
 neighbourhoods, more than 140,000 people are still 
displaced and hundreds of thousands are trapped
 in the western ISIL-held part of the city as fighting 
continues.

Preparations are under way to launch an offensive on the
west, which is expected be more difficult because of the
density of the population and the narrow streets and
alleyways through which armoured vehicles cannot pass.

Last month, the UN World Food Programme cut food 
rations, which are distributed to 1.4 million displaced Iraqis, 
by 50 percent because of delays in payments from donor countries.

The impact is already being seen in camps east of Mosul,

which is ISIL's last major stronghold in northern Iraq.

ISIL is now intensifying attacks in government-held parts
 of the east, and government security forces are conducting
house-to-house searches to find its sleeper cells.

Mosul is still home to nearly 1.5 million people, many of
whom are trapped by the fighting.