U.S. pledges extra $119 million for Iraq humanitarian aid

Washington pledged an additional $119 million for humanitarian aid in Iraq, the U.S. special envoy for the coalition against Islamic State said at a meeting on Thursday, following the recapture of Mosul from Islamic State militants this month.

At the anti-IS coalition meeting in Washington, Brett McGurk urged efforts and funds to stabilize areas of Iraq and Syria where allied forces had defeated the militant body.

"We have identified 100 critical stabilization sites in and around Mosul which will be the immediate focus for de-mining and restoration," McGurk said at the beginning of Thursday meeting.

"(The) United States last week announced an additional $150 million for these stabilization programs. Today we are announcing more than $119 million in additional humanitarian assistance and we hope to see similar contributions from our partners in this room in the coming weeks," he added.

Iraqi forces clashed with Islamic State fighters holding out in Mosul's Old City on Wednesday, more than 36 hours after Baghdad announced victory over the jihadists in what the militant group had declared the de facto Iraqi capital of its "caliphate."

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's victory announcement signaled the biggest defeat for the hard-line Sunni group since its lightning sweep through northern Iraq three years ago. But pockets of Mosul remain insecure and the city has been heavily damaged by nearly nine months of grueling urban combat.