Turkish Red Crescent boosts aid to Iraq's Mosul region

By Hikmet Faruk Baser

ISTANBUL

The Turkish Red Crescent has been distributing 5,000 loaves of bread a day to people fleeing fighting around the Iraqi city of Mosul, the charity said Sunday.

President Kerem Kinik said humanitarian aid to the region was increased following the launch of the attempt to retake Mosul.

The organization’s bakery in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region and around 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the beleaguered city, had been working every day except Fridays and official holidays.

“We are working to increase the capacity of the oven and we are attempting to build new ovens,” Kinik said in a statement.

The Turkish Red Crescent has sent 457 aid trucks to Iraq since 2014, the statement added.

The Iraqi military, backed by Kurdish fighters, militias and coalition warplanes, launched the operation to recapture Mosul on Oct. 21.