Amnesty warns against white phosphorus use in Mosul operation

The Britain-based rights organisation said it had received credible photographic evidence and witness testimony pointing to the employment of white phosphorus, north of a village east of Mosul.

"White phosphorus can cause horrific injuries, burning deep into the muscle and bone," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's Senior Crisis Response Adviser, said in a statement.

"It is possible that some of it will only partially burn and could then reignite weeks after being deployed," Rovera said.

Amnesty called on Iraqi as well US-led coalition forces, which are also firing artillery in support of the Mosul operation, not to use white phosphorus in areas where civilians are present, or will be in the future.

Iraq launched the drive to recapture the city from the Islamic State [IS] group last week, and the country's forces are closing in on Mosul from the north, east and west. 

The US-led anti-IS coalition announced on Friday that the Iraqi forces had temporarily halted their advance on the city, for a period that was expected to last "a couple of days".

"They are pausing and repositioning, refitting and doing some back clearing," coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian told Pentagon reporters via videoconference.

"We think it will just be a couple of days and then we are back on the march toward Mosul," he said, adding that Iraqi forces were between 10-20 kilometres [six to 12 miles] from the city.

Since the Mosul offensive began, coalition forces have employed nearly 2,500 bombs, missiles, shells and guided rockets, he said.

An Iraqi military statement, apparently issued in response to Dorrian's remarks on the halt, said that "military operations are continuing" and proceeding on schedule.

As Iraqi forces have closed in on Mosul from the north, east and south, growing numbers of civilians have fled IS-held areas and the impending fighting in territory the jihadists control.

The International Organization for Migration said that as of Friday, 16,566 people had been displaced since the operation began on October 17, the vast majority in theMosul region.

"We've seen... quite a dramatic increase in the numbers in the last few days, and they are now going into the newly set up camps," Karl Schembri of the Norwegian Refugee Council told AFP.

"This is already worrying because they haven't yet entered the city... when that happens, it's going to be quite massive displacement," he said.

Agencies contributed to this report.