By Serhad Shaker

NINEVEH, Iraq

Four Iraqi children have starved to death in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, according to a local activist.

“The four children died of starvation in Wadi Hajar in western Mosul,” Omar al-Taei told Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

He said an Iraqi child had died of starvation in the same area a few months ago.

Last week, an Iraqi councilor warned that about 140,000 children were in a dire need for humanitarian aid in Daesh-held parts of western Mosul.

Iraqi forces have slapped a siege around western Mosul amid preparations to attack Daesh positions in the area.

The blockade has prevented the delivery of foods and aid into the area, leaving civilians in the city’s western part on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

Iraqi forces have driven Daesh militants from most of eastern Mosul as part of a wide-ranging offensive launched last October to retake the city, which the terrorist group overran in mid-2014.