The 9th and Golden Divisions were still churning
through eastern Mosul. On November
24 the Zuhur and Kadrah neighborhoods were freed. Zuhur was originally
attacked on November
20, while this was the fifth time Kadrah was declared liberated. Some of
the division was also being taken off the line and replaced with a
new battalion. The Iraqi forces have issued no casualties, but the unit has
faced the brunt of the fighting in Mosul and likely has taken a lot of losses.
So far the Iraqi forces have reached 36 neighborhoods in
eastern Mosul. Of those, 7 have been freed and appear to be under control. 17
have been liberated multiple times and look like they are still contested. 12
have been attacked at least once.
The U.S.-led Coalition finished off Mosul’s bridges. The
city is bisected by the Tigris River, which has five spans across it. The last
bridge was blown
up in an air strike.
The New York Times ran a piece
about how the civilians in Mosul are complicating the battle. The government
dropped leaflets telling people to stay in their homes. There was no real
choice in that matter as the government and aid agencies had no way to take
care of the population if it did try to leave. The article also mentioned that
the military planners did not want to level the city as happened in Ramadi. Those
residents are now a major impediment to the fight. The Iraqi forces can’t use
their artillery and air strikes as much as they want out of fear of collateral
damage, and the Islamic State is also using civilians as human shields and to
re-infiltrate areas.
In the west the Iraqi forces rather than the Hashd will take
Tal Afar. A spokesman for Asaib Ahl Al-Haq said that the Hashd was
ready to take the town, but another spokesman added that was not possible for political reasons. Besides
Turkey, which has been very vociferous on the issue, the Iraqi Turkmen Front
also stated that
the Hashd should stay out of Tal Afar because they would set off sectarian
tensions. That issue should now be resolved as the army is to move
in.
Kurdish President Massoud Barzani commented on
the disputed areas in Ninewa once again. All the territory taken by the
Peshmerga before the Mosul campaign would remain under Kurdish control he said,
but the area liberated since then by the Kurds would be up for negotiation. The
U.S. helped negotiate a deal between Baghdad and Irbil so that they would
cooperate in the offensive, which included the Kurds giving up any land they
took. Since then Barzani and other Kurds have said they would keep everything,
but now the president is trying to back down from those statements.
Finally, the number of displaced has leveled off. The
International Organization for Migration reported
that from November 20-24 68,000 have left their homes and registered with the
authorities. On November 19 there were 61,674 displaced. That went up to 68,520
on November 20, and has stayed around that level since then with 68,660 on
November 21, 68,112 on November 22, 68,340 on November 23, and 68,964 on
November 24. Another 7,116 people have gone back to their homes in areas that
have been liberated.
SOURCES
Adel, Loaa, "Joint forces continue liberating 6 areas in
western coast of Mosul," Iraqi News, 11/17/16
Arango, Tim, “Iraq Told Civilians to Stay in Mosul. Now
They’re Paying With Their Lives,” New York Times, 11/24/16
Bas News, “Barzani: Peshmerga Won’t Retreat from Pre-October
17 Libearted Areas,” 11/24/16
- “Iraqi Turkmen Front Warns against Militia’s Incursion
into Tel Afar,” 11/24/16
International Organization for Migration, “Displacement
Tracking Matrix Emergency Tracking Factshhet 4# - Mosul Operations From 17
october to 24 November,” 11/24/16
Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: Nov. 1, 2016," 11/1/16
- "Inside Mosul: Nov. 12, 2016," 11/12/16
Al Maalomah, “Asadi confirms that the popular crowd will not
enter Tal Afar because of political pressure,” 11/24/16
- “Popular crowd declares readiness of its troops to storm
the center of Tal Afar,” 11/24/16
Mostafa, Mohamed, “Airstrikes destroy last bridge linking
Mosul’s west, east,” Iraqi News, 11/24/16
- "Zohour, Shoqaq Khadraa neighborhoods of Mosul recaptured:
source," Iraqi News, 11/24/16
Rudaw, “Fresh troops relieve soldiers from three weeks of
intense battle in Mosul,” 11/24/16
- "ISIS leader among militants killed in Mosul
district," 11/20/16
- “Shiite forces poised on edge of Tal Afar, won’t enter
city, spokesman says,” 11/24/16
Xinhua, "Iraqi forces clear areas freed from IS in eastern
Mosul," 11/9/16
- "Iraqi forces free more districts in eastern Mosul,"
11/4/16
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