MOSUL, Iraq: Mohammed Ali and hisfamily, carrying all their worldly possessions in a few bags,had been on the road for 18 hours since fleeing their home in anIslamic State-held area of Mosul.

They hoped to find shelter at a camp. So far, they have hadno luck.

quot;We tried at Hammam al-Alil camp,quot; about 35 km (22 miles)south of Mosul, the 50-year-old said, flanked by 20 relativesincluding sons and grand-nephews and nieces. quot;It was full.quot;

A bus had brought them from there and unloaded them a fewhundred metres (yards) from a Kurdish peshmerga checkpoint eastof Mosul and on the way to the sprawling Khazer and Hasan Shamcamps, which are also crowded.

quot;Hopefully we can get to Khazer. We just need to get throughthe checkpoint,quot; Ali said.

Ali's story is becoming a familiar one.

Displaced Iraqis are streaming out of western Mosul at aquickening pace as fighting intensifies in the city. They arearriving at camps to find there is no room, forced to get backonto buses or hire taxis to reach other areas.

Some head for new camps being built to try to cope with theexodus, but with poor living conditions, many western Mosulresidents make instead for the east side of the city, which wasrecaptured from Islamic State in January, to stay with relativesor find shelter in half-finished buildings.

The U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive to drive Islamic State outof Mosul, their last major stronghold in the country, hasconfined the jihadists to about half of the western side.

Iraq's immigration minister, Jassim Mohammed, said on Mondaythe number of displaced people from both sides of of the city since the start of the campaign had reached 355,000.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) recently opened anew camp that filled up within a week and is building another inHammam al-Alil to received thousands more families.

Hammam al-Alil has become the main transit point for theMosul displaced. At the current camp's main entrance, hundredsof Iraqis wait in the mud and cold, crouching by small fires,using porta-cabin toilets and asking which buses will take themonwards.

Taxi drivers tout for business, many shouting quot;Mosul,Mosul!quot; to take people back to the eastern side of the city.

SHELTER IN EAST

Eastern Mosul is a preferable destination for many who haverelatives there.quot;In the rubble there is nothing. If there is water maybe wewill go back. We're heading to the east we have family. We can't
stay in those camps,quot; Bushra Mohammed Ali, who left the westwith his sister and two daughters, said on Monday.

A woman named Um Tahseen, who had fled the Jidida district,said her family had gone 11 days without food.

quot;The militants, they beat people they don't like or killthem. Why would we go to the camps and face more hardshipsthere. We will go to the east. Maybe there is no water thereeither but a least we have family.quot;

In the centre of eastern Mosul on Sunday, many young menwandering through a market said they were from western Mosul,crammed into homes with anywhere from seven to 15 relatives withwhom they had fled.

Outside the Nabi Yunus shrine, 30-year-old Waddah, who hadfled the Islamic State-held Old City in the west with his twowives, two children and his brother's family, worked shovellingdebris into a skip.

quot;I came to stay with my cousin in Sumer district,quot; he said.

quot;It's not ideal - we're 15 people cramming into his home andinto an out-house - but it's better than being in the cold,crowded camps,quot; Waddah said.

More than anything Waddah was relieved to have escapedIslamic State but he was worried for family still trapped insidethe west. He gave only his first name for fear they would beidentified.

quot;My brother is there. He tries to call when he can, using aphone from his cellar,quot; he said. Islamic State militantsthreaten those caught using mobile phones with death.

quot;I'm scared for my family still inside. They don't callevery day because they can't. Every time they don't, I worrythat something has happened to them.quot;

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