Iraq closes camp hosting over 150 IS families

Baghdad, July 18 (IANS) The Iraqi government has closed a camp which housed over 150 families allegedly linked to the Islamic State (IS) terror group, a UN official said on Tuesday.

Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told Efe news that the camp was closed on Monday night and the families were moved to Jeddah camp in al-Qayara.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and NGOs such as Human Rights Watch had expressed concerns about the situation of these families in the municipality of Bartella, some 30 km. away.

Grande added that the families received basic aid such as food, water and medical assistance while they were in the camp.

However, the OCHA warned that the aid was inadequate, noting that at least four people had lost their lives.

Last week, the HRW also denounced the existence of this complex, describing it as a "rehabilitation field" that opened on July 9.

The NGO estimated that 170 families were in the camp, most of them children and women displaced from the western neighbourhoods of Mosul.

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