(21 Oct 2016) LEAD IN:
Syrian refugees living in Jordan are concerned that the battle for Mosul will drive more Islamic State fighters into their homeland.
Iraqi and Kurdish forces launched an operation to liberate Iraq's second largest city earlier this week.
STORY-LINE:
The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan: Syrians came here to escape the conflict in their own country.
But recent events have got them worrying about their homeland.
Iraqi forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters launched an operation to retake Mosul from Islamic State control earlier this week, and the battle is still ongoing.
Khaled Zoabi fled Daraa four years ago with his children and has built a home for his family here.
He is concerned a victory for the anti-IS coalition will drive more militants into Syria.
"Defeating Daesh (Islamic State group) in Mosul is so important for us. But we fear that the battle will open the road from Mosul to Syria," he says.
And he's highly critical of the global response to the extremists.
"You're telling me the whole world working together can't defeat Daesh? We as normal people are scared because the most powerful states support Daesh. They don't stand up to Daesh. If Daesh didn't have this kind of support it would be easy to finish them off," he says.
His neighbour Um Nabil says that if more IS fighters travel to Syria they will "destroy the country".
And another refugee, Um Ahmed, puts the blame for the rise of the extremist group firmly on the shoulders of Western countries.
"There weren't any terrorists when the revolution started. The terrorists only came when great nations entered the conflict," she says.
The battle for Mosul is currently concentrated in largely uninhabited villages on the outskirts of the city.
It's not clear when Iraqi forces will reach the city itself, and the operation is expected to take weeks, if not months.
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