BAGHDAD // The Iraqi army dropped tens of thousands of leaflets over Mosul before dawn on Sunday, warning residents that an offensive to recapture their city from ISIL was in its final stages of preparation.
It came as a suicide bombing targeting Shiite Muslims killed at least two people in Baghdad, one day after the deadliest attack to hit the Iraqi capital in months.
Aircraft dropped “tens of thousands of newspapers and magazines on the centre of the city of Mosul carrying important news ... to inform them of updates and facts and victories,” said Iraq’s joint operations command, which distributed images of some of the leaflets.
The leaflets carried several messages, one of them assuring the population that advancing army units and air strikes “will not target civilians” and another telling them to avoid known locations of ISIL militants.
“Keep calm and tell your children that it is only a game or thunder before the rain,” one leaflet said. “Women should not scream or shout, to preserve the children’s spirit.”
“If you see an army unit, stay at least 25 metres away and avoid any sudden movements,” another said.
One leaflet contained safety instructions for Mosul residents, urging them to tape over windows to prevent the glass from shattering, to avoid the sites of air strikes for at least an hour after a place is bombed, and advising them not to drive if possible.
The bombing in central Baghdad on Sunday targeted a tent where Shiites distribute food as part of annual religious commemorations. Two people were killed and at least four wounded, officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but ISIL frequently carries out suicide bombings targeting Shiites, whom it considers heretics.
The blast came a day after an ISIL-claimed suicide bombing at a funeral killed at least 34 people in the deadliest attack in Baghdad since another suicide bombing carried out by the extremist group left more than 300 dead in early July.
The assault on Mosul, the last city still under control of the ultra-hardline ISIL group in Iraq, could begin this month, according to Iraqi government and military officials.
Iraq has dropped leaflets over Mosul before, and has also done so as part of operations to retake other cities seized by ISIL in 2014 and 2015.
The extremists are dug in, expected to fight hard and have a history of forcing civilians to stay in harm’s way during previous battles to defend territory.
Reflecting the authorities’ concerns over a mass exodus that would complicate the offensive, the leaflets urged residents “to stay at home and not to believe rumours spread by Daesh” to cause panic.
With a pre-war population of around 2 million, Mosul is around 4 to 5 times the size of any other city recaptured so far from the militants, who swept through northern Iraq in 2014 and also hold a swathe of Syria.
The UN last week said it was bracing for the world’s biggest and most complex humanitarian effort in the battle for the city, which could make up to 1 million people homeless and see civilians used as human shields or even gassed.
* Reuters, Agence France-Presse