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The number of civilians fleeing western Mosul in recent weeks has topped 57,000, an Iraqi official said Sunday.

Iraqi families walk down a road as they flee Mosul on March 3, 2017, during an offensive by security forces to retake the western parts of the city from Islamic State group fighters. (Credit: Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images)
Iraqi families walk down a road as they flee Mosul on March 3, 2017, during an offensive by security forces to retake the western parts of the city from Islamic State group fighters. (Credit: Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images)

Iraqis have been leaving in large numbers since last month’s start of the military operation to take back the western part of the city from ISIS.

Their ranks rose by more than 10,000 in the past two days, the government said.

Also last week, 12 Mosul residents, including five children, were treated for injuries from a suspected chemical attack, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The Iraqi government is providing relief and food. It can handle another 100,000 displaced people from western Mosul at refugee camps, Minister of Migration and Displacement Jassem Mohammad al-Jaff said Sunday.

An Iraqi soldier delivers aid to displaced residents of Mosul at a gasoline station, used as a gathering point, after fleeing Mosul on March 3, 2017, during an offensive by security forces to retake the western parts of the city from Islamic State group fighters. (Credit: Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images)
An Iraqi soldier delivers aid to displaced residents of Mosul at a gasoline station, used as a gathering point, after fleeing Mosul on March 3, 2017, during an offensive by security forces to retake the western parts of the city from Islamic State group fighters. (Credit: Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images)

On Friday, ministry figures showed 46,000 people had left since the fighting began Feb. 19.

Since Mosul’s capture by ISIS fighters in June 2014, Mosul has been a vital stronghold for ISIS.

The largest city under the terror group’s control in Iraq and Syria, it was the city from which the group first declared the establishment of its so-called caliphate.