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ERBIL, Kurdistan RegionCasualties of trauma remain high on the frontlines of the Mosul battle, says the world health organization (WHO) and that great amounts of funding is needed to provide healthcare for 2.7 million people affected by the ongoing war.

The WHO and other organizations try to treat patients and people sustaining wounds as a result of the war between government forces and ISIS militants in field hospitals near the front, many of them however need to be transferred to Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region.

Trauma casualty rates remain high near frontline areas, with many trauma cases requiring referral from Mosul to Erbil in northern Iraq. WHO says in a statement.

According to the organization, from the start of the Mosul offensive on October 17 until January 18, 1610 wounded civilians were sent to Erbils 2 main hospitals to receive trauma care.

Many hospitals in Mosul have suffered extensive damage and are no longer able to provide health services to the general population and to civilians injured. WHO reported. Without these services, patients are experiencing serious complications, and in some cases death.

A report by the organization says: To fully support the health needs resulting from the Mosul operation, WHO requires a total of US$ 65 million of which US$ 14 million (21%) has been received.

Iraqi troops supported by Peshmerga and coalition forces launched an offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS during which many civilians have lost their lives due to bombardment or deliberate ISIS attacks.

The world health organization believes that a patients chance of survival is greatly increased if they receive medical care within an hour of injury known as the golden hour.

It explains in a statement that: To fill this gap, WHO and partners have established a 50-bed field hospital, with two operating rooms, in Bartella, eastern Mosul to treat severely injured patients with gunshot wounds, mine and shell injuries, and other injuries.

Health officials in the Kurdistan Region have long complained that their hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of civilian cases brought to them from the frontlines, while urging the central government in Baghdad to shoulder some of the burden.

To this end, the WHO has brought to the frontlines health staff of various specializations, including surgeons and nurses to treat the wounded near the front.

The organization reported on Sunday that: Three additional field hospitals with a capacity of 4050 beds will be established soon to support access to trauma care to the west and south of Mosul. Each hospital will be handed over to the Ministry of Health after six months to scale-up national capacity for trauma care services in the country.

WHO pushes for further funds for its field hospitals because it believes the drive to the nearest hospital in Erbil could make a difference between life and death.

These hospitals will fill a critical gap, as trauma patients are currently transported to referral hospitals in Erbil, northern Iraq, a one- to 2-hour drive away, it reports. To ensure that these patients have a greater chance of survival during their journey, 4 trauma stabilization points are currently operational, with additional points planned along referral routes.

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Iraq: WHO seeks funds for greater 'chance of survival' on the front - Rudaw

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes consisting of 18 engagements in Syria:

Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an oil pumpjack.

Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 10 oil refinement stills, five oil storage tanks, three oil pumpjacks, an ISIL-held building and two oil tanker trucks.

Near Tanf, a strike damaged an ISIL supply route.

Strikes in Iraq

Artillery as well as attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes consisting of 24 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

Near Haditha, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed three vehicles, a rocket system and a vehicle-borne improvised bomb.

Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an unmanned-aerial-vehicle launch site and an ISIL-held building.

Near Mosul, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed two ISIL headquarters, two vehicle-borne improvised bomb-making facilities, two barges, a fighting position, a tactical vehicle, a vehicle-borne improvised bomb, and an anti-air artillery system; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISILs ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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US Conducts More Strikes Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq - Shore News Magazine

The U.S.-led operation to oust Islamic State militants from Mosul will not eliminate the organization's presence in Iraq, warned northern Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani

"IS will not be eradicated from Iraq by a military operation," Barzani said Friday in an interview with VOA. "It may well lose cities like Mosul and [Syria's] Raqqa, but it will remain as an ideology and organization."

Barzani's comments come after The New York Times reported Thursday that the White House is drafting a presidential directive that calls on Defense Secretary James Mattis to devise plans to more aggressively strike IS, especially in Mosul and Raqqa, its capital in Syria.

FILE - Iraqi Army soldiers deploy after defeating Islamic State militants in the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, Jan. 24, 2017.

U.S. President Donald Trump will demand that new options be presented to him within 30 days, according to the report.

IS fighters are reportedly reeling as their territorial control in Iraq and Syria continues to shrink. In Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq, the group has lost the eastern half of the city to the U.S.-backed Iraqi forces.

The operation for the west side of Mosul is expected to be more complicated, as it is crisscrossed by streets too narrow for armored vehicles and is more populated than eastern Mosul, Barzani said.

"The military operation is going slow now because we don't want more civilian deaths," he said. "The plan is going slowly and is supervised by the United States, while the Iraqi forces are a part of it."

U.S. backing seen as key

Barzani said his region's army, known as peshmerga, would not have made advances without aerial backing from the U.S.-led coalition against IS.

FILE - Peshmerga forces inspect a tunnel used by Islamic State militants in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured from the Islamic State, east of Mosul, Iraq, Nov. 12, 2016.

"This would not have been possible without international support, especially from the United States," Barzani said.

Sectarian violence and bloodshed have swept Iraq for years following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi central government especially with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is accused of isolating the Sunni population, making them susceptible to extremist groups such as IS.

Under an agreement brokered partly by U.S. officials, Shi'ite militiamen are fighting on the western and southwestern outskirts of Mosul, and regular Iraqi army troops and peshmerga are on the eastern front. Peshmerga, under the agreement, are standing aside to let Iraqi forces take the battle into the mainly Sunni Muslim city.

Human rights groups have voiced repeated concerns about the treatment of civilians from areas once controlled by IS, and point to a growing anxiety among Iraqi Sunnis living under IS that they will be targeted by Shi'ites.

Incorrect politics created IS

Barzani told VOA that a continuing sectarian divide in Iraq will allow IS to thrive in some form.

FILE - Newly arrived Iraqi Shi'ite militiamen check their weapons in the predominately Sunni city of Nukhayb, in southwest Iraq, May 21, 2015. Analysts fear deep sectarian divisions will cripple the fight against the Islamic State group.

"What's important to realize is that the problem in Iraq is political, not military," he said. "IS is created in this country. It is the consequence of incorrect politics that has been in place for years in Iraq. Until those political circumstances are resolved, I doubt IS will end in Iraq. Until now, we don't see a single step made in Iraq to resolve those problems that led to IS."

To prevent IS from regrouping amid sectarian disputes, some Kurdish leaders are calling for a stronger U.S. military presence in northern Iraq.

"In my opinion, after the liberation of Mosul and other areas from IS, the American Special Forces and advisers should stay in Iraq even in a larger number," Najmaldin Karim, a Kurd and the governor of Kirkuk, told VOA. The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is a disputed territory claimed by both the Kurdish Region and the Iraqi government.

"I think President Trump is better to make an agreement with the Kurdistan Region to ensure American Special Forces remain in the region," Karim said.

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Kurdish Leader Tells VOA: IS Will Linger in Iraq After Mosul - Voice of America

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 27, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes consisting of 18 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an oil pumpjack.

-- Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 10 oil refinement stills, five oil storage tanks, three oil pumpjacks, an ISIL-held building and two oil tanker trucks.

-- Near Tanf, a strike damaged an ISIL supply route.

Strikes in Iraq

Artillery as well as attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes consisting of 24 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Haditha, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed three vehicles, a rocket system and a vehicle-borne improvised bomb.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an unmanned-aerial-vehicle launch site and an ISIL-held building.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed two ISIL headquarters, two vehicle-borne improvised bomb-making facilities, two barges, a fighting position, a tactical vehicle, a vehicle-borne improvised bomb, and an anti-air artillery system; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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Counter-ISIL Strikes Hit Terrorists in Syria, Iraq > U.S. ... - Department of Defense

President Trump's hard-line on refugees is causing distress among some Seattle-area immigrants. One Iraqi Kurd, who served with the U.S. Army, fears he may not see his 76-year-old mother before she dies.

Alyas Saydo spread documents related to his service with the U.S. Army in Iraq across the coffee table in his Tukwila apartment: ID badges from the seven years he worked as an interpreter, certificates of appreciation, a glowing letter of recommendation.

It was Mr. Saydos devotion to duty that kept him working regardless of the day, length of mission, or personal risk, wrote 1st Sgt. Jeffrey Davis, describing the Iraqi Kurd as a man who puts service to coalition soldiers above all.

The recommendation helped Saydo immigrate to the U.S. in 2011 on a special visa reserved for those who worked with the American military. He was allowed to bring his wife and five children, but not other members of his family, including his mother. They would come later, he hoped.

Hes been waiting for more than five years and now he fears he could be waiting much longer, while his brother and 76-year-old mother, driven from their home by terrorists, live in tents in Iraqi Kurdistan.

As Saydo explained his familys situation, President Trump was expected as early as Friday to sign an order suspending the flow of all refugees to the U.S. for 120 days and indefinitely bannig Syrian refugees while his administration evaluated screening measures. The president is also expected to temporarily bar entry to anyone from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Even when those measures are lifted, Trump is likely to order that the U.S. accept just 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017, according to a widely circulated draft. The country had previously committed to taking in 110,000 refugees.

There are a lot of bad guys, acknowledged Saydo, 50. He said he has no problem with the U.S. government looking into peoples backgrounds and taking their fingerprints.

But he seemed stunned by Trumps move. He cant change [policy] this quick, he said.

Other local refugees, and those who work with them, also expressed dismay.

If the presidential executive action suspends or reduces refugee resettlement even for a short time period, it will disrupt the lives of refugee families in our communities, said Sarah Peterson, chief of the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, in a statement. Most refugees arriving in Washington state are joining family members that are already here.

She also pointed out that the expected order would delay visas for people who, like Saydo, worked with the U.S. military. In fiscal 2016, these special visas allowed 610 people to come to Washington.

In all, the state took in roughly 3,900 refugees in fiscal 2016, including 165 from Syria and more than 1,000 from the seven countries likely to be singled out by Trump.

Trumps actions will affect more than those coming from Muslim countries.

The biggest group coming right now are Ukrainians, said Beth Farmer, who heads refugee and asylum programs across the north Puget Sound for Lutheran Community Services. Ukraines conflict with Russia brought nearly 800 refugees here in fiscal year 2016.

Many of the people Farmer employs are refugees themselves. As she walked around her SeaTac office, she introduced staffers from Somalia, Moldova, Afghanistan and Iraq. The skills they bring with them theyre incredibly talented, she said as she paused by Abdi Hassan, a Somali native who worked for the United Nations for 25 years on health and development programs.

Some staffers worry about their family members, given the likely presidential order. Hamed Hakimkhel, who came here on a special visa after working for the American Embassy in his native Afghanistan, said his brother-in-law has been waiting, waiting, waiting for his own special visa to come here. The brother-in-law worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army.

Because of that, nobody wants to hire his brother-in-law now, and he and his family are targets for extremists, Hakimkhel said. The children have even been lying at school when asked about their family background. I dont know how long they can continue, Hakimkhel said.

A Kurdish mental-health counselor, who asked to be known by his initials, R.A., because of danger to his family back home, said one woman he knew worked for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Two of her brothers were killed when her familys house was attacked. A sister was kidnapped. The mother is still waiting for her [refugee] case to be processed and shes over 80 years old, R.A. said.

Saydos family members in Kurdistan have faced risks not only because of his association with the U.S. military but because they are Yazidis, a religious minority that the fundamentalist Islamic State group (ISIS) would like to wipe out. In 2014, after Saydo settled here, ISIS attacked his home village, killing thousands and taking women as sex slaves.

His mother and brother, luckily on the other side of a mountain from where the terrorists began their attack, escaped. They both now live in a Kurdish encampment for displaced people.

Even before this weeks news about a presidential order, Saydo was frustrated by the lack of action on his application to bring them here. I would like to see my mother before she dies, he wrote in a letter late last year to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

As the security-clearance process for his mother and brother drags on, they have to keep updating their medical information. To get the necessary tests, they must travel six hours, through ISIS-controlled territory.

The trip, possible only by taxi and requiring a hotel stay, costs hundreds of dollars each time. Saydo, who works for a local interpreting service as well as a security firm, sends money home.

On Thursday morning, over sweet tea served by his wife, it was not clear to Saydo just how much extra delay an executive order might bring or even whether there would be a delay at all. The draft indicates that Trump may make an exception for those facing religious persecution.

But the draft doesnt say who, exactly, might be exempted, and Saydos concern was causing him to reassess his impression of Trump. When he was elected, we were very happy, he said of his family. Trump, they believed, was likely to act more aggressively against terrorism in Iraqi Kurdistan than President Obama had.

It looks like we were wrong, Saydo said of their pro-Trump views.

Soon to become a citizen, he plans to vote in the next election, and he said his familys fate may influence his decisions.

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Trump's plan for refugees worries Tukwila man with mom in Iraq camp - The Seattle Times