Red Cross: 1 million Iraqis may be forced to flee fighting

GENEVA -- The International Red Cross says up to 1 million Iraqis could be forced to flee their homes in the coming weeks amid worsening fighting in the country.

The Geneva-based aid group says the flight of so many people could pose a "massive humanitarian problem" for Iraq.


More than 3 million Iraqis are already displaced inside the country and 10 million people are already in need of assistance, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement Friday.
"If there is the predicted upsurge in violence, then the figure of internally displaced could dramatically increase," the group said.

The group's regional director for the Near and Middle East, Robert Mardini, said it is preparing for the worst, particularly in the Mosul area.

Government troops are trying to retake Iraq's second largest city from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

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