The Wahda district in southeast Mosul was still contested. January
4 the 9th Division and Federal Police called the neighborhood
freed in the morning. At the end of the day fighting was still going on, and
the Salam Hospital in the district had not been taken. January 5 the Joint
Operations Command said
parts of Wahda had been liberated, but continued advances were being held up by
snipers. The Federal
Police were still 700 meters away from the hospital as well. Salam Hospital
was originally taken by the 9th Division on December 6, but that was a trap set
by the Islamic State and the Golden Division had to rescue the soldiers. On December
17 a new push on the facility was made, but that probably stopped when the
entire Mosul campaign paused in the middle of the month. It still remains a
target of the Iraqi forces (ISF).
January
5 Hadbaa and Kindi in the northeast were attacked. Hadbaa had allegedly been
entered several times since November, but none of the stories looked to be
true. On December
31 the ISF even claimed that the neighborhood had been freed, another
exaggeration.
There was continued clashes in the southeast, and clearing
in eastern Mosul and north of the city. The 9th Division,
Federal Police and Rapid Reaction police were in Salam, Palestine, Shaimaa,
Dumiz, and Sumer as they have been the last few days. Sumer was declared freed
on January
3. The Golden Division was still clearing parts of eastern Mosul they’d
liberated, mostly the industrial zone outside of Karama. The northern front was
still removing IEDs and booby traps, which they have been doing since November,
because they are no longer moving on Mosul.
General Talib Shaghati of the Golden Division declared 65-70% of east Mosul
freed. He claimed
44 of 56 districts in the east had been taken. In the middle of December a
member of the Ninewa council made a similar statement based
upon 30 of 50 neighborhoods being freed. Going through all the previous reporting
it looks like 50% of Mosul is currently occupied by the ISF with some of those areas
still being contested.
Violence was reported throughout eastern Mosul and outside
of it. Two car bombs hit Hadbaa
killing 11, with two others being destroyed. Another vehicle bomb in Mithaq
left 13 casualties. Five more were destroyed in the southeast. Mortar fire on
Wahda left five dead. The Islamic State was also shelling Bakr,
Alam, Muharibin, Zuhur, Wahda,
and Mithaq with at least 17 fatalities and 13 injured. One photographer was wounded.
The insurgents attacked
the southern front. IS also released a video of it beheading one victim
and drowning another inside the city.
There were more pieces on the Islamic State running into
problems. One said that IS stopped
paying it fighters, while General Shaghati told the press its leaders and
families were fleeing the city. Similar claims have been made since the start
of the Mosul campaign in October. So far there are no signs that this has
affected the militants’ ability to resist.
Spokesman Ahmed al-Asadi held a press conference about the
Hashd’s activities in western Tal Afar. The sixth
stage of the liberation of the district was about to begin, but no details
about what that entailed were given. The Hashd were also waiting for Prime
Minister Haidar Ababi’s orders to enter Mosul. The Hashd have been in a holding
pattern outside Tal Afar for weeks now. Baghdad made an agreement with Turkey
for the army and police to take the town after Ankara’s repeated complaints and
threats about what they would do if the Hashd were to do so. The ISF has shown
no sign that they will move on the village however. The Hashd are also to stay
out of Mosul out of fear of how that would be interpreted by the population.
That means the forces are to stay in place for the foreseeable future. They are
obviously getting frustrated leading to statements like these from Asadi.
The Iraq Joint Operations Command lashed out at recent
reports about heavy casualties amongst the ISF during the campaign. It stated
that such pieces were not only inaccurate, but fabrications affecting Iraqi
morale and helping the Islamic State. It singled out one story
that the Golden Division was suffering a 50% casualty rate, which threatened
the combat effectiveness of the unit. Unlike previous campaigns the Iraqi
government is not only not releasing figures on its losses but is actively
going after critical reporting. It attacked
the United Nations’ casualty figures for November 2016 saying they were
exaggerated, and removed embedded reporters with the ISF in Mosul after they
ran stories about how tough the fighting was. Baghdad’s case is hurt by the
fact that it refuses to release any information about casualties, and its own
reporting is dominated by propaganda depicting constant victories. The latter
also brings into question whether Iraqi morale is being affected at all by these
types of articles since they are a decided minority in the news flow heard
every day. Given the constant car bomb attacks, sniper and mortar fire, and
IEDs, and slow progress it has made within Mosul it would not be surprising if
the ISF were facing heavy casualties, but the truth will likely never be known.
There is more displacement and returns going on inside and
outside of Mosul. The Islamic State continued
to force
people out of their homes near the front to convert them into fighting
positions. This was now happening in the northeast after Hadbaa was attacked. Rudaw followed
some families that were going back to their homes in Mosul, but noted far more
were leaving especially now that the campaign had been renewed. The
International Organization for Migration (IOM) counted
132,234 displaced registered with the authorities and aid groups as of January
5. From December 8 to January 5 45,536 people signed up, and from December 29
to January 5 15,942 alone had done so. There are lots more within Mosul who are
moving back and forth trying to escape the fighting or the Islamic State that
are not registered.
Finally, PBS
Newshour had the latest article on the vetting process people go through
once they are registered. Every step from when they first come into contact
with the Iraqi forces, to when they get to registration areas to the camps they
stay in they are screened. There are huge lists of wanted people suspected of
being IS members, and claims by people that lead to arrests. Those that get
detained are to go before a judge to decide whether they should be further
investigated. There are so many people fleeing however that the entire process
is backed up. One judge in Qayara south of Mosul said he had a list of more
than 40,000 suspects. A Human Rights Watch worker suggested that the government
be more transparent by informing families of where their loved ones are,
announcing the number of detained, and other steps. That’s unlikely to happen
as the Iraqi bureaucracy is run from the top down and is very slow to change. Instead
the system will continue as is and slow down more and more.
PBS also reported that those that have not fled are under
duress. It went to a town north of Mosul that was freed in December where the
inhabitants decided to stay. They are not allowed out of the village without
permission for security reasons, and have no services like electricity or
water, and their food supply is running out. People inside Mosul in liberated
areas may not be cordoned off by the security forces, but they too are running
into deprivations and shortages. The government has attempted to distribute aid
to some of these areas, but their efforts have been scattered. As more time
passes the situation of these civilians will likely deteriorate as neither the
government nor aid groups appear to have the resources to adequately deal with
this situation.
SOUCES
Adel, Loaa, "Iraqi forces storm into 3 new
neighborhoods in Mosul," Iraqi News, 11/15/16
AIN, “Ninewa We Are Coming: 132
Daash killed and continued advances into the left coast of Mosul [Revised],”
1/5/17
Al
Alam, "HORRIFIC VIDEO: ISIS First 2017 Execution Footage," 1/5/17
- “Iraqi Forces Capture 70 Percent of Eastern Mosul from
ISIS: Cmdr.,” 1/5/17
- "Iraqi Forces Establish Control over Key Hospital in
Western Mosul," 12/6/16
Bas News, “70% of Eastern Mosul Cleared from IS: Official,”
12/12/16
Buratha News, “Recent development in the field during the
liberation of Mosul until 18:35 pm Thursday 05 01 2017,” 1/5/17
Emergency Tracking Factsheet 10# - Mosul Operations From 17
October To 5 January,” 1/5/17
Ensor, Josie, “Isil stops paying Mosul fighters’ salaries in
hint at funding shortage,” Telegraph, 1/5/17
Face Iraq, “Security forces
continue its operation against Daesh terrorists within Ninewa,” 1/5/17
-
"Security forces liberated Mithaq, Sumer, Jaffa and stormed Dumiz
neighborhood on the left coast of Mosul," 1/3/17
- “Sources: Almost complete cessation of life in areas of
right coast of Mosul, warnings of famine such as occurred in Fallujah,” 1/5/17
Al Forat, “Asadi declares near the start of the sixth stage
of the liberation of Tal Afar, west of Mosul and the other areas,” 1/5/17
- “Asadi: Popular Crowd awaiting orders by Abadi to enter
Mosul,” 1/5/17
-
"Ashura Brigades repelled attack by Daesh south of Mosul," 1/5/17
-
"Photographer for joint operations command injured in Mosul," 1/5/17
Iraq
Oil Report, "Inside Mosul, Dec. 17, 2016," 12/17/16
-
"Inside Mosul: Jan. 4, 2017," 1/4/17
-
"Inside Mosul: Jan. 5, 2017," 1/5/17
Kalin, Stephen and Coles, Isabel, “Iraqi general says 70
percent of east Mosul retaken from Islamic State,” Reuters, 1/5/17
Al Maalomah, “Popular Crowd
destroys Daesh criminals near Tal Afar,” 1/5/17
Mohamed, Mostafa, “17 civilians killed in Islamic State
shelling east of Mosul: officer,” Iraqi News, 1/5/17
Mostafa,
Mohamed, "17 civilians killed in Islamic State shelling east of Mosul:
officer," Iraqi News, 1/5/17
NINA, "Int'l Coalition To Bombarded Daesh Sites And
Security Forces Free Hadbaa Region North Of Mosul," 12/31/16
- “Joint Special Operations Command: Battle of Mosul
comparable to losses in Battles of Anbar and Salahuddin,” 1/4/17
PBS Newshour, “Why Iraqi boys and men are disappearing amid
ISIS concerns,” 1/4/17
Perry, Mark, “How Iraq’s Army Could Defeat ISIS in Mosul-But
Lose Control of the Country,” Politico, 12/15/16
Roblin, Sebastien, “Baghdad Doesn’t Want You to Know How
Many of Its Soldiers Are Dying,” War Is Boring, 1/4/17
Rudaw, “Braving rubble, no services, security risks, some
Mosul families return home,” 1/5/17
Al Sumaria, “Counter-Terrorism forces promises surprises in
the battle of Mosul,” 1/5/17
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