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More than 70 tents burnt down in Iraqi refugee camp - UNHCR

by Reuters
Monday, 29 August 2016 12:03 GMT

Displaced people inspect tents that were destroyed by fire at Yahayawa refugee camp near Kirkuk, Iraq, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed

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The Yahayawa camp houses about 500 internally displaced families

BAGHDAD, Aug 29 (Reuters) - More than 70 tents were destroyed by fire on Monday in the refugee camp of Yahayawa, near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, but no one was injured, the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR said.

The ministry of displacement and migration "has requested us to provide tents and core relief items CRIs to affected families", UNHCR spokeswoman in Baghdad, Caroline Gluck, said.

"We will respond with tents and CRIs without delay; the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs is coordinating with other clusters to provide any other assistance needed," she said in an email.

A boy walks past the tents that were destroyed by fire at Yahayawa refugee camp near Kirkuk, Iraq, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed

The war with Islamic State has forced about 3.4 million people to leave their homes across Iraq, the U.N. says.

Last week, the UNHCR said that hundreds of thousands more people could be uprooted by the military assault to dislodge the militants from Mosul, the biggest city still under Islamic State control, in northern Iraq.

The Yahayawa camp houses about 500 internally displaced families and is managed by the provincial council.

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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