War takes 'toxic' toll, Mosul kids live with bleeding hearts

Children of Mosul City in the war-torn Iraq have been left with toxic stress and nightmares, according to a new research by Save the Children.

The humanitarian group carried out a focus group with 65 children in a displacement camp south of Mosul and results showed that all of them displayed signs of 'toxic stress' - the most dangerous stress response. A total of 90 per cent of the kids have lost loved ones in the Mosul conflict and suffer from nightmares.

Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, has been in a volatile state since the Daesh seized the city in 2014. Military operations have been ongoing since then. The United Nations has reported in April that nearly half a million people have fled Mosul since the start of the military intervention.

The aim of the research by Save the Children was to show the effects the conflict has left behind on the mental health of the children - many of whom have witnessed their family members being killed in front of them.

A child who took part in the focus group, aged between 10-12, said: "My cousin was offered a cigarette by Isis and when he accepted they gave it to him and then killed him by gunshot on the back."

"Everything was destroyed, and there were dead bodies around, and people were crying and bleeding," said a girl, aged 13-15.

One boy said: "My uncle was digging on the ground and then a plane went over him and dropped a rocket on him and then he exploded." And another boy said that he can see 'monsters' in front of him or dead bodies in the streets.

Children told the charity that they witnessed family members killed in front of them, dead bodies and blood in the streets and bombs destroying their homes. Others shared stories of family members shot by snipers, blown up by landmines or hit by explosive weapons as they fled. The majority of children - 78 per cent of girls - said they had nightmares or were unable to sleep.

Children also mentioned fear of an unidentified "thing", "person" or "monster". Their mental images of traumatic experiences, and subsequent nightmares, appear to be so vivid they are haunted by them during the day. Almost all children the charity spoke to were slow to understand instructions and most showed 'robotic' behaviour, unable to play or show emotion.

Source: Khaleej Times