Iraqi security forces on Wednesday fought Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul and liberated another district in the city, while a UN humanitarian organization warned of the humanitarian situation in eastern Mosul.

Earlier in the day, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that almost half of Mosul's children and their families no longer have access to clean water as clashes between ISIL militants and Iraqi security forces trying to recapture the Iraqi city intensify. 

"Children and their families in Mosul are facing a horrific situation," the UNICEF representative in Iraq, Peter Hawkins, said in a statement.

"Not only are they in danger of getting killed or injured in the cross fire, now potentially more than half a million people do not have safe water to drink," he added. 

According to the UNICEF, a major pipeline serving eastern districts of the northern city was destroyed amid ongoing military operations. 

The conduit in question, one of three pumping water to eastern parts of the war-torn city, is impossible to repair quickly given that it is located in parts of Mosul still under IS control. 

UNICEF said that Iraqi authorities are ferrying water to civilians with trucks, though this temporary measure is not enough to meet the needs of residents. 

The Iraqi troops inside Mosul were met by stubborn resistance from the extremist militants, who are fighting in small groups and moving quickly throughout the districts in the eastern side of the city, locally named the left bank of the Tigris River that bisects the city.

This would put children in particular at risk of contracting waterborne diseases such as severe diarrhea and the threat of malnutrition. 

According to the UN body, civilians will have no choice but to resort to unsafe water resources if the pipeline is not repaired in the coming days. 

( Source: Xinhua)