Mosul Campaign, Day Thirty-Six, Nov 21, 2016

Two new areas of eastern Mosul were freed. The 9^th Division was able to clear Salam and Abbas in the northeast of the city. Salam was originally attacked on November 11, while Abbas was just reached. The Golden Division was trying to secure the neighborhoods it had already reached, conducting house-to-house searches. Together the two units have entered 36 areas of eastern Mosul. Almost all of them remain contested however as the Islamic State has been able to re-infiltrate and counter attack in nearly all of them.

This Rudaw Map shows areas that the Golden and 9th Divisions have entered in eastern Mosul. Red is for secured, Pink is contested. Many of the Red areas however are still witnessing fighting.

The U.S.-led Coalition took out one of the major bridges in Mosul. The Tigris River bisects the city, and there are five major spans across it. The Coalition has now knocked out three trying to limit the ability of the Islamic State to traverse the Mosul.

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) made progress in the north and south as well. The 9^th Division freed five towns in the south, and the 16^th Division coming down from the north liberated three more. Both forces were talking about reaching Mosul itself last week, but didn’t. When they do they will help take the pressure off the Golden Division and elements of the 9^th, which are facing the brunt of the heavy urban fighting within the city.

The authorities have not been releasing their losses as usual, but the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) did provide a small sample. From October 18 to November 12 it recorded 379 people, 59 civilians and 320 military personnel going to Irbil for treatment.

Finally, there was still blowback from some parties in Baghdad against comments made by Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. On November 14, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman mentioned that Kurdistan had agreed to withdraw from all the territory that it liberated during the campaign as part of a deal Washington helped negotiate between Baghdad and Irbil. Two days later, Barzani said that the Kurds had no intention of leaving any Kurdish areas. The prime minister’s office reminded Barzani that their agreement was still in effect, and then Barzani replied that his statements were not translated correctly, and that Irbil would honor the deal. Later, comments by a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq were posted on social media saying that the army and Hashd could take the ground from the Peshmerga. Barzani’s office hoped those remarks were not true, but also went on to say that Baghdad had tried using force of arms against Kurdistan many times, but had always failed. During the war with the Islamic State, the Kurds have been able to occupy almost all of the disputed territories they claim as historically theirs. The status of those areas will have to be negotiated after Mosul is freed. Barzani is such an unpopular figure however, that whenever he talks about them he just inflames the situation.

SOURCES

Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, "Iraqi troops search for suicide car bombs in eastern Mosul," Associated Press, 11/21/16

Adel, Loaa, "Security forces fully liberate Humayra village in Nineveh," Iraqi News, 11/21/16

Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul, Nov. 21, 2016," 11/21/16

Al Mada, "Breaking into eight districts and increases pressure on Daesh on the left coast," 11/11/16

NINA, “U.S. Ambassador To Baghdad: Peshmerga Would Withdraw From All The Liberated Areas After liberating Mosul,” 11/14/16

Rudaw, "Iraqi forces make further gains north and south of Mosul," 11/21/16

- “Kurdish presidency: Shiite leader’s remarks sound like Saddam, ISIS,” 11/21/16

World Health Organization, “Mosul Operation: Casualty cases to Emergency and West Hospital-Erbil, Iraq (from 17 October to 12 November 2016),” 11/21/16