Fears for 20,000 trapped in IS-held area amid battle for Mosul

As many as 20,000 civilians are feared trapped in Islamic State-held parts of Mosul as jihadists face being driven out of the city.

The terror group has a last-remaining Iraqi stronghold in the Old City area, as an eight-month onslaught by government forces nears its end.

The United Nations warned on Thursday that thousands of civilians stuck in the IS territory, on the west bank of the River Tigris, are in "extreme danger" amid the ongoing battle.

Lisa Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said: "Our estimate at this stage is that in the final pockets of the Old City, there could be as many as 15,000 civilians, possibly even as high as 20,000.

"The people that are still trapped inside of these pockets are in terrible condition, facing shortages of food.

"They're in extreme danger from bombardment, from artillery crossfire.

"The (IS) fighters that are still there are still directly targeting civilians if they try and leave."

Once Iraq's second city with a population of nearly two million, Mosul was captured by IS in June 2014, with the city becoming the group's de facto capital in Iraq as they declared their caliphate.

The battle to retake Mosul by Iraqi government forces, backed by US-led airstrikes, has already seen 915,000 flee their homes, with nearly 700,000 still displaced.

Ms Grande revealed six of 44 residential neighbourhoods in western Mosul are nearly completely destroyed, with 22 moderately damaged.

She estimated the cost of re-establishing infrastructure such as housing, schools and police stations at $707m (£546m), with the damage to the city far greater than expected.

Speaking in Poland's capital Warsaw on Thursday, US President Donald Trump hailed the ongoing efforts to free both Mosul and Raqqa, Syria, from IS.

He said: "We have fought very hard and very powerfully against ISIS since I've been president and we've made tremendous gains, far greater than has ever been made with respect to that group.

"While the cities of Raqqa and Mosul will soon be liberated from these murderers, criminals and butchers, we recognise that Syria requires a political solution that does not advance Iran's destructive agenda and does not allow terrorist organisations to return."

On Thursday, a monitoring group said at least 224 civilians, including 38 children, have been killed in US-led coalition airstrikes since Western-backed forces entered Raqqa a month ago.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it did not have an estimate for civilians killed in other ways or while trying to flee the fighting.