At wrecked Mosul airport, home is still distant for Iraq's displaced

Displaced Iraqi people from the Bab al-Tob area in Mosul flee their homes after clashes to reach safe areas as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul, Iraq, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

MOSUL AIRPORT, Iraq (Reuters) - Outside a mosque on the edge of Mosul airport's ripped up runway, Iraqis made homeless by war sit on suitcases, taking a brief rest before beginning their onward journey, on foot or in buses.

Men push wheelchairs carrying elderly relatives or carts loaded with small children over dusty and uneven ground, part of an exodus of people who have escaped from Islamic State's last major Iraqi stronghold.