The Iraqi Forces (ISF) were still fighting over the last
remaining sections of northeast Mosul on January 22. All of the Arabi district
was declared freed on January 21,
but there was still fighting
reportedly going on there the next day. The road from Mosul to Dhouk was secured,
along with Malayeen
for the third time. Rashidiya is the last major district left under Islamic
State control. The ISF already took a town there yesterday and is shelling
the rest of it. After it is liberated, the Iraqi forces will move on to the
western section of the city.
Preparations for assaulting the west are already underway.
Military engineers finished
their preparatory work on pontoon bridges supplied by the United States, which
are to be used to cross the Tigris River. A member of parliament’s security
committee joined the
chorus of Iraqi officials who believe that west Mosul will be simpler than the
east. He said that operations there would rely more on air strikes,
intelligence and proactive operations. The Americans have been much more
cautious in their predictions, and right now it’s impossible to tell which way
it will go.
The Americans are becoming more involved as well. Iraq Oil
Report heard
that U.S. Special Forces conducted a raid on Abu Khashab west of Mosul
northeast of Baaj. It was not told what happened. Iraqis have been saying that
IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and other top members are located in the Baaj
area, which might have led to the operation.
What’s left of Islamic State defenders in the east are
trying to hold on, while their brethren in the west are attempting to maintain its
control. In Rashidiya,
IS was forcing people out of their homes to convert hem into fire positions.
Civilians trying to flee the district were fired
upon. The group executed
13 people as well who refused to be used as human shields to cover the group’s
retreat. In the west the insurgents were reportedly destroying
their files so they would not be captured, and forcing
women to give up their jewelry to help finance the group. Four women were
whipped for refusing to donate anything. The militants have been using many of
these tactics since the Mosul campaign started in October.
Agence
France Presse ran an article about the ISF running into fewer IEDs in
Mosul. With the population largely staying in place the group could not plant
as many explosives as they had in other cities. While Iraqis were quoted as
saying there were more bombs in Ramadi and Fallujah, that was actually incorrect
as the civilians stayed in the latter as well hindering the insurgents ability
to lay down IED fields and booby trapping as many cars. In Mosul, IS has tried
to shift their tactics by putting IEDs in cars left behind. It also deployed
far more car bombs, and has been laying down a steady stream of mortar and
rocket fire as well.
A pro-Iranian Hashd leader continued the group’s animosity towards
the Kurds and the Nujafis. Jawad Talabawi from Asaib Ahl Al-Haq (AAH) accused the
Peshmerga and former Ninewa Governor Atheel Nujafi’s Hashd al-Watani of
smuggling IS leaders to Syria. He claimed that the two were accepting bribes to
help out insurgent members. Anti-Kurdish statements are a re-occurring theme
amongst many of the pro-Iranian groups like AAH who are especially vitriolic
towards Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. The Nujafi’s are allied with
Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Turkey back both of them, another
target of the Tehran aligned Hashd. They accuse all of them of supported the
Islamic State and attempting to break up Iraq.
SOURCES
Adel, Loaa, “Islamic State forces women to donate gold
jewelry in western Mosul,” Iraqi News, 1/22/17
Buratha News, “Recent developments in the field during the
process of liberation of Mosul until 17:10 pm Sunday, 22 01 2017,” 1/22/17
Dunlop, W.G., “In Mosul battle, Iraq forces face fewer
IS-planted bombs,” Agence France Presse, 1/22/17
Georgy, Michael, "Iraqi forces push deeper into eastern
Mosul," Reuters, 11/4/16
Iraq Oil Report, “Inside Mosul: Jan. 21, 2017,” 1/22/17
Al Maalomah, “Leader in the popular crowd accused the
Peshmerga and Nujafi’s Guard of smuggling Daesh leaders to Syria,” 1/22/17
- “Parliamentary security committee: the plans adopted by
the security forces for Mosul battle,” 1/22/17
Al Mada, "Joint forces controlled by Dohuk road,"
1/22/17
NINA, “The Security forces began bombing in preparation for
the storming of Rashidiya, north of Mosul,” 1/21/17
Rudaw "Iraqi forces liberate north Mosul district after three
days of heavy clashes," 1/22/17
Shafaaq News, “Army completes its preparations to erect
bridges across both sides of Mosul,” 1/22/17
- “Daesh evacuates residential homes to defend their last
strongholds in Mosul,” 1/22/17
- “Daesh snipers targeting civilians trying to escape from
their control north Mosul,” 1/22/17
- “Freeing last neighborhoods in left coast of Mosul and
control the road to Dohuk,” 1/22/17
- “Source: Daesh began to destroy and burn its government
department archives in Mosul,” 1/22/17
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
“Mosul Humanitarian Crisis, 18 January 2017,” 1/18/17
Xinhua, "Iraqi forces clear areas freed from IS in eastern
Mosul," 11/9/16
- "Iraqi forces continue fighting at last IS strongholds in
eastern Mosul," 1/22/17
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