1-10 | The recent launch of the military offensive to retake Mosul has forced people who have lived through extremely traumatic times to flee the town and nearby villages. “They have endured two years of the so-called Islamic State (IS) occupation of their town or villages, airstrikes, Iraqi forces fighting IS, fleeing for their lives and arriving in a displaced persons camp”, says Bilal Budair, MSF mental health manager in Erbil. “These people had to leave very quickly, taking nothing with them.
12-7 | On his way to meet friends for coffee, 27-year-old computer repairman Abu Ahmed* was injured by a cluster bomb. Four weeks later, his bone fracture has failed to heal. His only hope is specialist orthopaedic surgery in Turkey – but he is trapped in east Aleppo. Bedridden, he now watches in despair his neighbourhood fall into rubbles after the new wave of airstrikes. One month ago I was meeting friends for coffee, as I do every morning. My friends were late so, when the raid happened, I was the only one there.
11-7 | East Aleppo’s besieged residents have been told to leave their homes or face annihilation. As they brace themselves for what comes next, Amal Abdullah* recalls the day four years ago that she was told to leave the east Aleppo neighbourhood where she grew up. “It was mid-July 2012 when the authorities told us we should evacuate our neighbourhood in east Aleppo or face the consequences. All my life I had lived in Aleppo; life there was beautiful.
10-10 | Teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are continuing their assessments of areas of Haiti affected by Hurricane Matthew on the Tiburon peninsula as well as the Artibonite and Northwest departments. In Jérémie, MSF found that the reference hospital has suffered damage and lacks water and electricity. There are a significant number of hurricane survivors with infected wounds and also cholera cases.
9-5 | Nyajuba (Nya) 5 years old was playing with her 8 year old sister near their home when shooting started. Sensing danger, her sister picked Nya up and together they ran to the bush. As they ran, Nya was hit by a stray bullet on her right arm. Admist the panic and fearing she was dead; Nya’s sister dropped her and ran for her life. Nya then lay alone, bleeding profusely until eventually falling unconscious. Nya spent two nights in the bush alone as her grandmother searched the surrounding area for her.