PHOTOS: Dehydration kills pregnant woman after escaping IS

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A pregnant woman, along with her husband, escaped from the Islamic State (IS) in the south of Mosul but died in hospital from dehydration, said a Peshmerga source on Wednesday.

Zahir Hassan, a Peshmerga Commander on the Makhmour front line, stated that the woman and her husband fled jihadists in the south of Mosul to the Kurdish forces’ front line on Monday.

Hassan noted that both stayed in an area between Peshmerga and IS front lines for a long time, waiting for a chance to escape from the group.

He also mentioned that Peshmerga soldiers helped rescue both from the area, but the health condition of the woman was bad as she was pregnant and suffered from dehydration.

Peshmerga provided water to both and later delivered the woman to the nearest hospital to receive proper medical treatment.

A source from inside the Peshmerga forces told Kurdistan24 that the woman died after two days in the hospital.

Doctors said she was deeply affected by the dehydration and excessive walking while escaping from the insurgents.

The Kurdistan Region is home to 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who mostly fled from other parts of Iraq.

Additionally, the Region shares over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of its border with the jihadists in the north of Iraq.

Peshmerga commanders often report that dozens of civilians escape from IS almost every day from different front lines.

Some get injured on the way as IS opens fire on them, others die by stepping on the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or from dehydration as a result of increasingly hot temperatures

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC) expects to receive 500,000 more IDPs from Mosul as the offensive to liberate the city from IS nears.

The photos below show the pregnant woman when Peshmerga soldiers rescue her. 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany