Mosul battle continues as 900 civilians flee city ahead of fighting

Some 900 people have fled the Iraqi city of Mosul and crossed the border into Syria, the UN refugee agency says.
This is the first large group of civilians confirmed to have escaped since the Iraqi government began its offensive to liberate Mosul from the so-called Islamic State (IS) on Monday.
Up to 1.5 million are thought to be in Mosul, with up to 5,000 IS fighters.
There are fears the militants will use the civilians as human shields as Iraqi forces get closer to Mosul.

A spokeswoman for the Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that more than 900 people from Mosul had crossed the border into Syria and were now at a refugee camp.
She said it was likely the agency would use the camp as a staging-post before moving them back across the border to a safe location in Iraq,

Mosul residents had been told by the Iraqi government that it may be safer to stay in the city while the operation is under way - with fears IS fighters have booby-trapped roads and placed snipers on routes in and out.
But there are also fears that IS militants could use residents as human shields by moving into their neighbourhoods, and concern that the group may even use chemical weapons.
Residents, reached by telephone by Reuters news agency, confirmed IS was preventing people from fleeing the city and had directed some of them towards buildings likely to be targeted by air strikes.

US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday it was important to ensure that Mosul's residents could safely flee the city.
"If we aren't successful in helping ordinary people as they're fleeing Isil (IS), then that makes us vulnerable to seeing Isil return," he told reporters in Washington.
camps

The UN is working to create new refugee sites to the south, east and north of Mosul, and predict some 200,000 people will need shelter in the first days and weeks of the operation.
But many of those who have already escaped have headed west to camps across the border in Syria, including Al Hol camp.
Al Hol was built to house 7,500 people but currently has 9,000, with more coming every day.
While it is being expanded to eventually take in 50,000 people, the Save the Children charity says there are just 16 latrines at the moment, the camp is littered with waste and faeces, and there is no clean water.
"These families arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs and find almost nothing to help them," said the charity's Tarik Kadir. "The camp is bursting at the seams and risks being overwhelmed."