Mosul siege develops

A full siege is developing in Mosul as poor families struggle to feed themselves after prices rose sharply following the US-backed offensive on the Islamic State-held city in northern Iraq, humanitarian workers said yesterday.

Some of the poorest families are finding it hard to feed themselves while others are hoarding and hiding food as they expect prices to rise further as the battle that started six weeks ago takes hold of the city.

"Key informants are telling us that poor families are struggling to put sufficient food on their tables," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande, told Reuters. "This is very worrying."

Iraqi government and Kurdish forces surround the city from the north, east and south, while Popular Mobilisation forces - a coalition of Iranian-backed Shia groups - are trying to close in from the west.

Retail prices rose sharply last week, after Popular Mobilisation fighters cut the supply route to Mosul from the Syrian half of the self-styled caliphate, declared by Islamic State two years ago over Sunni-populated parts of Iraq and Syria.

More than a million people are still believed to live in parts of Mosul under the control of the Islamic State fighters, who seized the largest city in northern Iraq as part of a lightning advance across a third of the country in 2014.

With the last supply route cut off, basic commodity prices in Mosul could double "in the short term", said a humanitarian worker, who declined to be identified.

Some 100,000 Iraqi government troops, Kurdish security forces and mainly Shia militiamen are participating in the assault on Mosul that began on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a US-led international military coalition.

The capture of Mosul, Islamic State's last major urban stronghold in Iraq, is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate.

Iraqi forces moving from the east have captured about a quarter of Mosul, trying to advance to the Tigris river that runs through its centre, in the biggest battle in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"In a worst case, we envision that families who are already in trouble in Mosul will find themselves in even more acute need." Grande said. "The longer it takes to liberate Mosul, the harder conditions become for families."