The Iraqi army is completing the last phase of the operations
in east Mosul. The 16th Division freed
the last part of Arabi a two-part neighborhood in the northeast. The Iraqi
Forces (ISF) originally attacked the area on January
16 and had been declaring it liberated everyday since. There are two parts
to Arabi and the reports were not distinguishing one from the other. The army
is also taking on Rashidiya
the last district of east Mosul still under Islamic State control. The Division
took Qawsiyat
a town in Rashdiya. It is a rather large area, so it may take a few days to
completely liberate.
In the central section of east Mosul the Golden Division is clearing
areas and a Shabak Hashd brigade is to be deployed to help
with that effort and hold the area. The Hashd were supposed to stay out of the
city, but probably because there is a manpower shortage of police to stay in
the liberated areas as the army and Golden Division shift to attacking west
Mosul this unit was deployed. It is also not a Shiite Arab unit so that might
be a factor as well. Many people in Mosul said they were afraid of Shiite Hashd
forces committing abuses.
Iraqi and American commanders gave some of their thoughts
on why IS was routed after the Mosul campaign got back underway at the end of
December. One major factor was the bombing of the bridges across the Tigris.
That cut down the number of car bombs IS could deploy. At first these were
armored behemoths that were hard to destroy. Later they were regular civilian
cars. Knocking out the bridges also meant IS could not re-supply. The Iraqi
forces found fewer arms caches the farther they pushed into the city. There
were also fewer IS fighters due to attrition and the bridges being down.
Finally, the Golden Division carried out night raids that took out IS
commanders.
Hundreds of IS fighters are trying to get across the Tigris
River which divides the two halves of the city. The U.S. led Coalition announced
that it destroyed 90 boats and three barges trying to ferry insurgents across
the waterway over three days in the third week of January. The Iraqis have
destroyed a number of these vessels as well. That would imply that the Iraqi
and Coalition forces are making a concerted effort to take out as many IS
fighters as possible while they are vulnerable in the water.
Out west the Hashd are still announcing a sixth
phase of operations there. The Hashd surrounded Tal Afar weeks ago, but the ISF
is in no rush to take the town leaving the Hashd in a holding position. That
leaves them to attack the small towns in the district.
The Islamic State is destroying the areas it is fleeing
while attempting to maintain control in the western half of the city. The 16th
Division said it saw
burned homes and cars in the northeast. Residents reported that IS fighters
were destroying property as they were retreating and attempting to block streets
with wrecked vehicles. The group destroyed two water pumping stations to deny services to
neighborhoods, which local officials are now attempting to repair. Continuing
with its mini-scorched earth policy IS blew
up the Mosul Hotel in the west, the second largest in the city. It is also
stepping up security, stopping
people from gathering in large groups, shutting down stores, executing people, etc. On top
of that the western half of the city is suffering from a lack of services, and
sky rocketing prices.
The United Nations’ Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
released a statement
asking the government to look into a video that showed the ISF abusing and
killing three captured IS fighters in central east Mosul. This is not the first
time such incidents have come to light, and it will not be the last. In turn,
Baghdad can’t be expected to take any action because the authorities don’t
investigate nor take these matters seriously, and it might hurt morale and its
image if they did.
The Associated
Press ran a story on what the fight for west Mosul might be like. General
Sami al-Arithi told AP that the ISF had not come up with a strategy yet. U.S.
General Joseph Martin believed that the narrow streets and densely packed
neighborhoods would make the fight more difficult than the east. In previous
articles Iraqi commanders have expressed the view that west Mosul will be
easier than the east, while the Americans have been more pessimistic. As of now
it’s impossible to tell which way the battle will go.
In that same article, Ninewa officials gave their own
casualty assessments. They estimated roughly 5,000 civilians inside Mosul had
been killed and wounded so far, while 1,600 troops were injured or dead in the
total operation. Only 187 ISF fatalities and 218 wounded have been reported
inside the city. However 2,809 dead and 13,301 injured civilians have been
mentioned with most of the latter coming from hospitals in Irbil reporting
figures to the U.N. The real cost of the campaign will likely never been known
as the Iraqi government is not known for transparency on such issues.
SOURCES
Adel, Loaa, "Army's 16 brigade destroyed 17 car bombs north
of Mosul," Iraqi News, 1/16/17
George, Susannah, “Iraqi forces eye tougher fight in Mosul’s
west,” Associated Press, 1/21/17
Hemid, Leyla, “Iraqi Forces Make Further Gains Against IS in
Mosul,” Bas News, 1/21/17
Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: Jan. 19, 2017," 1/19/17
Al Maalomah, “Military said that Shabak popular crowd
brigade given duties,” 1/21/17
- “Talabawi: Popular crowd fully prepared for the sixth
stage and waiting for the zero hour,” 1/21/17
Al Mada, “Army frees Arabi neighborhood, killing 27 Daash
northern left bank,” 1/22/17
- “Daesh takes revenge on the people of liberated
neighborhoods by burning homes,” 1/22/17
Michaels, Jim, “Coalition warplanes take out Islamic State
fleet in Mosul,” USA Today, 1/21/17
Mostafa, Mohamed, “Islamic State blow Mosul’s 2nd
biggest hotel, 12 members killed,” Iraqi News, 1/21/17
- "Most Islamic State commanders in Mosul already killed,
Iraqi general says," Iraqi News, 1/19/17
- "UPDATED: Iraqi forces retake 2 northern Mosul regions,
very close to recapturing east," Iraqi News, 1/21/17
New Sabah, “After losing the left bank..Daesh take unprecedented
measures on the right bank in Mosul,” 1/21/17
- “Daesh commits nearly hysterical crimes against the
population of the right bank in Mosul,” 1/21/17
- “One neighborhood separates the joint forces from the
complete liberation of the left bank of Mosul,” 1/21/17
Al Sumaria, “Member of the Nineveh Council: Daesh burned two
water pumps in Mosul,” 1/21/17
UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, “UNAMI Calls on Government
to Investigate Report of Torture and Murder of Captured Terror Suspects in
Mosul,” 1/21/17
Xinhua, "Iraqi forces continue fighting at last IS
strongholds in eastern Mosul," 1/22/17
- "Iraqi forces fight to defeat last IS strongholds in
eastern Mosul," 1/21/17
- "Iraqi forces seize main part of eastern Mosul from
IS," 1/18/17
1 comment:
Thank you, if it was you who forwarded my email to the UN.
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