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		</div><p>The children of Mosul are bearing the brunt of the intensified fight between government forces and the Islamic State group in the Iraqi city&#8217;s western half, the United Nations has warned.</p>
<p>Iraqi forces are in their last push to drive IS militants from the remaining pockets of territory they still hold in the Old City where narrow streets and a dense civilian population are complicating the fight. Unicef&#8217;s representative in Iraq Peter Hawkins said the agency is receiving &#8220;alarming reports&#8221; of civilians being killed, including children, with some caught in the crossfire while trying to flee.</p>
<p>He did not give a specific number for killed children, but he estimated 100,000 girls and boys are still in the IS-held Old City neighbourhood and other areas, living under extremely dangerous conditions.<br />
He called on the warring parties to &#8220;protect the children and keep them out of harm&#8217;s way at all times, in line with their obligations under humanitarian law&#8221;.</p>
<p>He added: &#8220;Children&#8217;s lives are on the line. Children are being killed, injured and used as human shields. Children are experiencing and witnessing terrible violence that no human being should ever witness. &#8220;In some cases, they have been forced to participate in the fighting and violence.&#8221;</p>
<p>Backed by the US-led international coalition, Iraq last October launched a wide-scale military offensive to recapture Mosul and the surrounding areas, with various Iraqi military, police and paramilitary forces taking part in the operation.</p>
<p>The city&#8217;s eastern half was declared liberated in January, and the push for the city&#8217;s western section, separated from the east by the Tigris River, began the following month. Iraq&#8217;s second-largest city, Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014 as the militants swept over much of the country&#8217;s north and central areas.</p>
<p>Weeks later, the head of the Sunni extremist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the formation of a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria from the pulpit of a Mosul mosque.</p>
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