Urban warfare takes heavy civilian toll in Syria, Iraq, Yemen - ICRC

Displaced Iraqi residents who fled their homes walk past ruins along a road at the frontline of the ongoing fighting between the Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants near the Old City in western Mosul, Iraq June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

GENEVA (Reuters) - Urban warfare is taking root in conflicts across the Middle East, with five times more civilians in Syria and Iraq killed in cities than in rural areas over the past three years, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of war-related fatalities among city dwellers accounted for 70 percent of civilian deaths in the two countries during the period, the agency said. The Yemeni cities of Taiz, Sadaa and Sanaa have also become deadly battlefields.