Mosul was obliterated by IS battle, British aid worker says
ONE of the first British aid workers to venture into Islamic State's former Iraqi stronghold has described scenes of "Armageddon" amid the "catastrophic situation" which greeted her in Mosul.
Madiha Raza, who works for the British-based charity Muslim Aid, said she has been changed by the harrowing experience of witnessing the humanitarian crisis first hand.
The 29-year-old from Northwood, west London, recalled how seeing shoes, toys and backpacks amongst the rubble of a primary school destroyed by IS bombing was the most powerful part of her visit.
She said: "The entire city is just completely obliterated, it is like a movie set.
"What you can't feel in the photos or smell is the death, sewage and smoke.
"When you are there it makes the reality really hit home.
"There is a huge humanitarian need, people have got nothing anymore, it is very, very sad. It is a catastrophic situation."
Men emerge from rubble in the Iraqi city of Mosul
Last week a "total victory" was declared by the Iraqi prime minister, after nearly a nine month battle to liberate what is the country's second biggest city from the extremists.
What you can't feel in the photos or smell is the death, sewage and smoke
On the ground Muslim Aid's teams are handing out food and water after they evacuate people to safer areas near checkpoints, and are providing portable latrines for the displaced civilians.
While she was in Mosul Ms Raza was helping at one of the charity's distribution centres near one of the evacuation points.
Naming what is needed most, she said reconstruction, education, water and sanitation, and medical are the things "desperately" required on the ground.
"There is a lot to be done," she added.