The Iraqi and Kurdish forces were pushing in on Mosul from
the east and south on the eighth day of the Mosul operation. Turkey once again
inflamed Iraqi sentiment, while within Mosul itself IS continued to deal with
its imminent demise.
New casualty reports came out for October 23. 19 Peshmerga
were killed and 78 wounded, along with 6 displaced dying
and 10 being wounded by an IED. The true figures are much higher as Baghdad and
Irbil are not releasing any numbers. Only the occasional reporter at the front
provides a glimpse into losses.
The Iraqi and Kurdish forces were pushing forward once
again. In the east, the Golden Division launched a pincer
attack from Bartella. The unit six freed towns. From the south, the Federal
Police and Army took eight villages, and the army took another in the
southeast. The Peshmerga were laying siege to Bashiqa in the northeast. They
were digging trenches
around it, and took
one town as well. On other fronts the Kurds said they reached the limit of
their advance and were digging in. Before the campaign Irbil and Baghdad came
to an agreement about their respective roles. The Kurds agreed to take the
perimeter of Mosul to the north and east, and not enter the city itself. At the
same time they are claiming all of the territory that they take as part of the
disputed territories, which the Iraqi government does not agree with. That
issue will have to be resolved after the battle for Mosul is over.
For the second time the Islamic State struck at the Sinjar
district in western Ninewa. IS has been attacking at various locations including
Kirkuk
City and Rutba
in western Anbar in an attempt to draw forces away from Mosul. The Sinjar
thrusts have been quite small, while the other two were quite spectacular
examples of well planned and elaborate commando raids into urban areas. They
have had no impact on Mosul however.
In the Mosul district IS showed signs that its time was
running out. There was another report that IS executed 40
families south of Mosul as it was retreating. The group continued to destroy
sections of the city itself. It apparently burned some mosques,
schools, and service departments. At Mosul Hospital it kicked
out dozens of patients to make way for its own wounded. There were also stories
of food and fuel shortages.
Turkey appeared set on angering Baghdad. The day before
Turkish forces fired
artillery into the Bashiqa district claiming it was to support the Peshmerga.
The Kurds denied that they asked for any assistance. The next day, Turkey’s
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkish
planes were taking part in the Mosul operation. President Recept Tayyip Erdogan
has made his goal clear. In a TV interview he stated, “But there is a major
question, who will then control the city [Mosul]? Of course, Sunni Arabs, Sunni
Turkmen and Sunni Kurds.” He was referring to Ankara’s allies in Ninewa such as
the Nujafi’s and Massoud Barzani. Through these actors Erdogan hopes to
establish hegemony over not only Mosul but the entire province of Ninewa. His
plans are not
going well however, and only garnering the enduring enmity of Baghdad.
Reported Casualties
In Mosul Operation Oct 17-24, 2016
Dead: 1 Reporter,
1 U.S. Sailor, 1 Hashd, 2 Kurdish Counter Terrorism Operatives, 3 Doctors, 4
Soldiers, 6 Displaced, 60 Peshmerga
Wounded: 4
Reporters, 10 Displaced, 30 Soldiers, 253 Peshmerga
(The higher figures
for Peshmerga vs Soldiers is due to more Western reporters being embedded with
the Kurds than the ISF)
Executed by Islamic
State Oct 17-24, 2016
658
Previous Reports
SOURCES
Abdul-Zahra,
Qassim and Krauss, Joseph, "Iraqis Press Toward Mosul, Face Questions
About Airstrike," Associated Press, 10/24/16
Bas News, “Iraqi Security Forces Advancing Towards Central
Mosul,” 10/24/16
-
"IS Executes 40 Families in South of Mosul," 10/24/16
-
"Peshmerga Foils an IS Attack in Batnaya Near Mosul," 10/24/16
Buratha
News, "Freed Christian Karmales east of Mosul," 10/24/16
Dehghanpisheh, Babak and Georgy, Michael, "Ferocity of Kirkuk
attack points to tough fight for Mosul," Reuters, 10/24/16
Dettmer, Jamie, “US Scrambles to Contain Flaring Turkey-Iraq
Tensions,” Voice of America, 10/24/16
eKurd,
"Iraqi Kurdistan News in brief - October 24, 2016," 10/24/16
- “Kurdish forces reject alleged request help from Turkey in
Mosul operation,” 10/24/16
Face
Iraq, "Security forces announced they foiled a suicide attack on a Mosul
police station," 10/24/16
Hennessy-Fiske,
Molly, "Even the badly wounded are itching to return to the battle for
Mosul: 'I'm fighting for my land,'" Los Angeles Times, 10/24/16
Iraqi
News, "Iraqi forces liberate 2 villages south of Mosul," 10/24/16
-
"Peshmerga forces kill 15 ISIS militants and destroy 7 car bombs in
Sinjar," 10/24/16
Iraq Oil Report, “Inside Mosul: Oct. 23, 2016,” 10/23/16
-
"Inside Mosul: Oct. 24, 2016," 10/24/16
Al Maalomah, “Daesh burn mosques and schools in Mosul and
directed sectarian slogans on walls,” 10/24/16
-
"Security forces surround victory neighboring in Rutba preparing to storm
it," 10/24/16
Al
Mada, "Freed five villages in the vicinity of Bartila," 10/24/16
-
"Freed four villages in the area south of Mosul," 10/24/16
NINA,
"6 Civilians Killed, 10 Injured South Of Mosul," 10/23/16
Rudaw, “Peshmerga reach point beyond which they will not
advance in Mosul offensive,” 10/24/16
-
"UPDATES: Mosul offensive, Day 8," 10/24/16
Shafaq
News, "A senior military commander survived a suicide bombing east of
Mosul," 10/24/16
-
"Urgent..Iraqi forces repel a Daesh attack south of Mosul," 10/24/16
Sowell, Kirk, “The Regional and Domestic Political Context
of the Mosul Offensive,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 10/18/16
Alsumaria, “Daesh expels more than 40 patients including the
elderly from Mosul Hospital,” 10/24/16
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