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Article snippet: A woman ran through an alley in Mosul’s Old City with two babies clutched to her chest and two small children following closely behind, grabbing for her skirt. The family was among hundreds of civilians emerging from the rubble of the besieged neighborhood on Monday as Iraqi Special Forces went door-to-door clearing homes. The evacuations are part of a final bid to wrest the last pockets of the city still controlled by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, from the hands of extremists. Many who remained in the militant-controlled areas of the city are injured and malnourished, according to aid groups. Some have been hiding in basements for weeks as the fierce fighting between the Iraqi military and Islamic State forces raged around them. Last month, the United Nations warned that thousands were being used as human shields by the militants as their grip on the city loosened. Supplies have dwindled as the U.S.-backed Iraqi mission to retake the city escalated, and the risk from airstrikes and Islamic State snipers made it impossible for some to flee. “People don’t have access to water or food supplies,” Bruno Geddo, head of the United Nations refugee agency in Iraq, said in an interview. The food remaining in the city was seized by Islamic State militants, according to recent escapees. “People have told us they were eating grass, so things are really desperate.” Others were injured and had to be carried down city streets. The refugee agency, the United Nat... Link to the full article to read more