First Wave of Iraqis Flee Mosul for Camps

Bazwaya, Iraq — Holding white flags and traveling in convoys of dump trucks, army buses and family sedans, thousands of residents poured out of an eastern neighborhoods of Mosul on Thursday, the first significant wave of people to escape the city held by the Islamic State.

More than 1.2 million people are believed to be still trapped in the northern city, which Iraqi security forces are just beginning to penetrate after launching an offensive to retake it two weeks ago. Newly constructed camps in the area have capacity for just 60,000 people.

The stream of humanity, which included shepherds pushing herds of sheep out of the war zone, crawled along in heavy traffic leaving Mosul and headed toward a swelling camp for displaced persons erected on the banks of the Khazir River, which has space for 1,000 families but is rapidly filling up.

Even as they fled, some were almost giddy with relief. Drivers in the convoys blasted their horns and waved V for victory as Iraqi and Kurdish troops passed by on their way to the front lines.

Girls and young women who were forced to wear black veils over their faces in Mosul took them off and let the wind blow though their hair.

For nearly 2½ years, they have lived under Islamic State’s brutal rule, in the group’s defacto capital in Iraq. It was in the city’s central mosque that the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his caliphate two years ago, calling on the world’s Muslims to follow him.

Now Iraqi commanders say it’s just a matter of time before the city is recaptured, though no one is sure of the cost civilians trapped inside may pay.

As government troops closed in, Baghdadi rallied his followers on Thursday, releasing an audio recording that called on them to remain steadfast and fight and obey their commanders.

“Totally decimate their territories, and make their blood flow like rivers,” Baghdadi said.