Iraq: Aid enters West Mosul for first time 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is carrying out a major distribution of food and other essential items to more than 64,000 people in West Mosul. This is not only the first such distribution of its kind since the western part of the city was recaptured by the authorities on July 10, but the first major delivery of aid to the area since Mosul was cut off from the world in 2014.

_{An ICRC delegate reading the names of people who will receive aid in West Mosul, Iraq (ICRC / Ibrahim Sherkhan)}

Much of West Mosul has been devastated by the fighting, with private homes, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, electricity plants and water systems in ruins. The population –the few who had stayed throughout the military offensive, families who returned home, and those displaced from other inaccessible yet neighbourhoods– have to struggle to put food on the table, says the ICRC. Access to food or water is either limited, or high market prices make essential supplies out of reach for many.

At the same time, wounded people keep arriving at medical facilities, after being wounded by unexploded ordnance hidden under the rubble of their homes.

_{More than 26,500 people – returnees and residents – in West Mosul received food, hygiene, and non-food items (ICRC / Ibrahim Sherkhan)}

Since the Mosul operations started in October 2016, the ICRC has helped more than 1.4 million people, including internally displaced, returnees, and host communities.

_{Students at the school during the distribution of aid; the ICRC says life is returning in West Mosul (ICRC / Ibrahim Sherkhan)}

For more information on the ICRC's work in Iraq, click here