Battle for Iraq's Mosul could take months: ICRC

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A growing number of wounded, more than 100 on some days, are emerging from rural areas surrounding the city of one million that is held by Islamic State forces, said Dominik Stillhart, director of ICRC operations worldwide.

"What we see now on the ground is indeed that the fight in Mosul is not just going to stop anytime soon because the resistance is very strong," Stillhart, back from visiting Iraq, said in an interview on Thursday at ICRC headquarters in Geneva.

An Iraqi father (L) mourns the death of his son, who was killed during clashes in the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, in al-Samah neighborhood, Iraq December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

"It is likely that we will see long, drawn-out fighting with very serious suffering of a population that will once again be caught between two frontlines," he said. "It is reasonable to expect that this is going to take weeks if not months."

More than six weeks into the offensive against Islamic State's last major city stronghold in Iraq, the army is trying to dislodge militants dug in among civilians in the eastern districts, the only side Iraqi troops have been able to breach.

"The original idea of the government as they told me, government officials, is that people should stay in their houses as much as possible," Stillhart said. "But of course the longer the fighting will be drawn out, the more people will probably try to flee."

Some 70,000 people had been displaced so far, a relatively low number that he said suggested the Iraqi military was giving consideration to protecting the civilian population.

"But looking at what is happening elsewhere in the Middle East, we are of course concerned about yet another situation where we have intense urban warfare with large-scale destruction which will of course heavily impact on the civilian population."

The ICRC is focusing on providing food and shelter material to civilians who have fled Mosul, and on water and sanitation projects, Stillhart said.