美国国家公共电台 NPR Civilians Flee As Iraqi Army Battles Remaining ISIS Fighters In Mosul

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Next, we report on the lives of people in a war zone, the city of Mosul, once captured by ISIS, now under attack by Iraqi security forces backed by the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of people still live in that city. And NPR's Alice Fordham reports there's a surge in people fleeing.

ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE¹: Behind a metal gate on the outskirts² of the flyblown town of Hamam al-Alil are rows of hastily constructed tents. We are a few miles from the frontline of the assault on Mosul. And people who are fleeing the battle are beginning to arrive.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: This family showed up a few hours ago. The grandmother, Amsha Mohammad, tells me they were caught in crossfire³.

AMSHA MOHAMMAD: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: "It was a hard day," she says. "The army was here. And ISIS was here. And we were stopped for four hours." They are from a village nearby, so I ask if the battle was there.

MOHAMMAD: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: "No. We were inside Mosul." She says ISIS had forced them out of their village months ago to be human shields. They were sleeping in a vegetable bazaar⁴, eating dirty water mixed with flour to survive. ISIS took Mosul about two and a half years ago. Iraqi security forces retook the eastern half of the city in January. But the fight for the more densely⁵ populated west is only just gearing up.

The United Nations says nearly 30,000 civilians⁶ have fled in less than two weeks, a sharp uptick that could mean many more will follow as the fight moves to the city center. Amsha Mohammad, that grandmother, says everyone will welcome the security forces. People have been living in misery⁷.

MOHAMMAD: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: "I'll go home without ISIS," she says. She tells me they kill people for having a SIM card, for smoking a cigarette because a woman didn't cover her hands. The tent we're in is purple and green. And as the sunlight filters through, it turns her furious, wrinkled face lurid⁸ colors.

MOHAMMAD: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: She practically spits as she says, "if I catch anyone from ISIS, I will eat him. I will eat his flesh." Alice Fordham, NPR News, northern Iraq.