Iraqi Civilians Pay Heavy Price as Attack on ISIS in Mosul Nears<br />18, 2017<br />ERBIL, Iraq — Several hundred thousand civilians are enduring desperate conditions<br />and facing retribution by Islamic State fighters in western Mosul as Iraqi forces prepare to attack militants who control the city’s western half, according to residents and humanitarian groups.<br />Food prices in western Mosul are almost twice as high as those in eastern Mosul, Sally<br />Haydock, the representative of the World Food Program in Iraq, said in a statement.<br />Hunger pushes them to abandon their principles." The United Nations in Iraq said on Saturday<br />that most of the 750,000 to 800,000 residents of western Mosul had been living under extreme duress for weeks, creating a humanitarian crisis even before the start of military operations.<br />In telephone interviews, residents said the Islamic State was using food as a weapon, doling out small amounts to hungry<br />families in return for information gained by spying on neighbors suspected of aiding Iraqi security forces.<br />Abu Salah, who lives in the Bab al-Tob neighborhood in western Mosul, said the Islamic<br />State, also known as ISIS, had recruited three families as spies in return for food.<br />American commanders say about 2,000 to 3,000 Islamic State fighters remain in<br />western Mosul after the liberation of the city’s eastern half last month.<br />Abu Marwan said that We’re no longer afraid of the rockets and the buzzing of bullets — we fear hunger more,
