Bartilla, Iraq (AINA) -- Addressing the water shortage crisis, the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization^* and Institute of Iraq have begun distributing water to villages in the areas surrounding Mosul. ISIS cut off the water to these areas when it captured Mosul, which used to be supplied from two water purification plants in Mosul.

More than 250 families will receive water from tankers. For areas in the old quarter which are not accessible by tankers, large water containers are delivered periodically.

There are more than 125 families in Bartilla who were driven from Mosul.

Aid was also distributed to 43 Turkman families displaced from Salamiyah because of the bombing of their homes by ISIS.

In addition to water, basic rations were distributed, including rice and cooking oil.

The aid was distributed at the Syriac Catholic Cultural Center in Bartilla.

The Assyrian Aid Society has also addressed the water crisis by drilling two wells in Baghdedeh, one in Karamles, and one in Batnaya.

^* The Hammurabi Human Rights Organization (HHRO), an NGO based in Baghdad, Iraq, monitors the human rights situation in Iraq, particularly of minorities such as Assyrians, Turkmen, Yazidis and Shabak. Founded in 2005, HHRO works for human rights observation and documentation, in addition to implementation of humanitarian relief in Iraq.

HHRO works with various Iraqi and international institutions on variety of issues.

HHRO publishes annual reports on Human Rights situations focusing on Minorities. In 2013, HHRO was recognized and awarded as the best NGO by the United States State Department for its major achievements in the most difficult situations for the year 2012 in Baghdad.