ISIL offensive displaces 83,000 Iraqi families in Nineveh

The escalation of violence by the terrorists of so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has forced 83,000 Iraqi families to flee their homes in Nineveh Province, Iraqi Red Crescent Society says.

The aid organization said on Friday that it registered 83,000 families from Nineveh seeking refuge in northern and southern provinces.

The society expressed concern about the deteriorating humanitarian condition of refugees, saying they are in dire need of medical assistance and foods.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also said on Friday up to 10,000 people from the Christian town of Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya in Nineveh, have been forced out of their homes.

An estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the UN.

Violence in Iraq escalated after the ISIL militants took control of Mosul, in a lightning advance on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.

The ISIL has vowed to continue its raid towards the capital. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country’s security forces would confront the terrorists, calling the seizure of Mosul a “conspiracy.”

Soldiers of the Iraqi army have been engaged in heavy fighting with the militants in different fronts and have so far been able to push back militants in several areas.