Civilians trapped in Mosul could face worst catastrophe in Iraq conflict, U.N. warns

FILE PHOTO: Civilians carrying their goods walk along a street in an area controlled by Iraqi forces in Mosul, Iraq, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The battle to dislodge Islamic State from the Old City of Mosul, where hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are trapped, could turn into the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the war against the militants, the United Nations warned on Tuesday.

About 400,000 civilians, or a quarter of Mosul's pre-war population, are trapped in the Old City, according to U.N. estimates. As many as half a million are estimated to remain overall in neighbourhoods still under IS control in western Mosul.