As happens too many times Iraqi propaganda got ahead of what
was happening on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State. Yesterday
the Federal Police announced
that they and the Rapid Reaction Division had taken the town of Abu Saif, which
is just outside the southern tip of Mosul. In fact, fighting continued
there into the next day February 21 as insurgents were hiding in tunnels, before
it was declared freed
once again, although the Islamic State still held a cement factory just outside
of town. The two police units were consolidating
their position around Abu Saif building berms to protect against car bombs. By
the end of the day, the police claimed they had taken the Ghazlani
army base, reached the outskirts
of the airport, and IS had abandoned
it due to Iraqi artillery fire. These may all be exaggerations by the Iraqi
forces (ISF) as well. Earlier the police said they would take the town of
Yarmouk next to Abu Saif and then head towards Ghazlani and the airport.
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Although there were not many IS fighters in the area they
were putting up a defense. Fighting in and around Abu Saif killed
8 police, and wounded more. IS also fired rockets upon Hamam al-Alil, which is
a staging area for the ISF that wounded 2 soldiers. The ISF claimed they
destroyed 14 car bombs
and killed 14 suicide
bombers turning back these assaults. Those types of figures are always open
to inflation as well.
Different sections of west Mosul are coming under Iraqi
artillery fire as well. That was blamed
for killing five civilians. There have likely been many more casualties, but
because these areas are under IS control they are not getting reported.
What is also getting sporadic reporting now that the assault
upon west Mosul underway is the constant IS mortar, rocket, and drone
attacks upon
liberated east Mosul. During the day drones and rockets
on eight neighborhoods killed 17 and injured another 17. Part of the reason for
the decline in coverage is the shift towards the new operation. Another is the
fact that the Iraqi government has told the media not to cover negative news
during the war, and might be doing that again with this situation.
In the west the Islamic State continued
to throw
itself against the Hashd defenses in the Tal Afar district. The open territory
means these attempts are easily defeated. IS lives for the offensive however,
even when it is in dire straights like the present, and will not give up on
these types of suicide missions as a result.
The Hashd also claimed it had
pictures of a U.S. plan dropping arms and ammunition to the insurgents in the
Tal Afar area. They have also said that the Americans are smuggling IS leaders
out of Ninewa to safe areas. This has been a constant theme of pro-Iranian
Hashd groups since 2014. They get it from their benefactors in Tehran who make
similar statements. Both are aiming to undermine Washington as it has
re-entered Iraq to help in the war, and are playing upon the plethora of
conspiracy theories that are popular throughout the country.
Because of this type of criticism a commander from the
Federal Police General Raed Jawadat told
the press there were no foreign troops involved in the liberation of Mosul. He
acknowledged the U.S. led coalition was providing air support, but that was it.
The day before Prime Minister Haider Abadi’s office had to issue a similar statement.
This came after several foreign papers noted that U.S. and British Special
Forces were right at the front with the Federal Police and Rapid Reaction Division.
Baghdad has had to play down this role to try to fend off charges from
pro-Iranian elements in Iraq that the Americans are undermining the country
with stories like the one above.
The United Nations has finally adjusted its predictions for
displacement from the new operation. Originally they were warning of the
possibility of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing west Mosul. Now they
have lowered
that to up to 250,000. Even that might be a high figure given that only 200,000
have left their homes in all of Ninewa since fighting started in October 2016.
The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is planning on
building a camp at Hamam al-Alil south of Mosul to take in the newly displaced.
Until then the Iraqi government plans on transporting people to the camps
already built east of the city.
The United Nations was also noting
the continued difficulties in east Mosul and for those still displaced. It was
concerned with the arbitrary arrests made by the ISF of suspected IS
sympathizers at camps. The news of the lack of services, IS attacks, and
arrests of men and boys in east Mosul has stopped some families from returning
there. The army for instance, closed
down the Karama neighborhood and took all the military aged males to a
school and searched them looking for weapons and evidence of being IS members or
sympathizers. There are more people currently going back to the city however,
mostly to Intisar, Mithaq, Sumer and Gogjali, the last of which is just outside
of Mosul. Those areas that were last to be freed, which were along the Tigris
River and in the northeast are facing
high levels of poverty and a severe lack of food. Once markets are re-opened
and supplies start flowing into those areas they will recover. People don’t
have much money and there are no jobs however. Many of those going back say
they want to find work, secure their property and try to collect their
pensions. There is a constant flow of people in and out of the city. More
people are doing the latter. While many want to rebuild their lives, things are
far from easy doing so. People have also started complaining about the heavy
handedness of the security forces, and the lack of government support. Those
are likely to increase as more time passes as the ISF is hunting down IS
members and Baghdad has no money for reconstruction.
SOURCES
Al Aalem, “Sleeper cells..hidden enemy of the security
forces in eastern Mosul,” 2/21/17
Agence France Presse, “Iraq forces press assault on ISIS
south of Mosul,” 2/21/17
AIN, "Urgent Rapid Reaction Division frees Ghazlani camp
south of Mosul," 2/21/17
Anadolu
Agency, "Daesh drone attacks kill 9 in Iraq's eastern Mosul," 2/21/17
ARA News, “Iraqi forces attack ISIS-held Mosul airport,”
2/21/17
Atassi, Basma, Beech, Samantha and Yan, Holly, "Battle for
Mosul: Iraqi forces take key village near airport from ISIS," CNN, 2/20/17
Bas
News, "Retaking Mosul Airport 'Matter of Hours': Commander," 2/21/17
BBC, “Mosul offensive: Iraqi army seizes key town of Abu
Saif,” 2/21/17
Buratha
News, "The martyrdom and wounding of four civilians in Daesh bombing in
northern Mosul," 2/21/17
Coles, Isabel and Chmaytelli, Maher, “Iraqi forces fighting
Islamic State set to storm airport, clear way to western Mosul,” Reuters,
2/21/17
Al Forat, “Federal Police chief: No involvement of foreign
forces in the liberation of West Mosul,” 2/21/17
-
"Popular Crowd killed 9 Daash and detonated two car bombs west of Tal
Afar," 2/21/17
George, Susannah and Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, “Iraqi forces on
Mosul hilltop gird for fierce fight ahead,” Associated Press, 2/21/17
Iraq
Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: Feb. 21, 2017," 2/21/17
Lister, Tim, “Taking western Mosul from ISIS: Five key
questions,” CNN, 2/21/17
Al Maalomah, “Pictures: US aircraft lowered 6 people and
materials over Tal Afar which is controlled by Daesh,” 2/21/17
Mostafa, Mohamed, “Iraqi forces reach vicinity of Mosul
airport,” Iraqi News, 2/21/17
-
"Islamic State drones, rockets kill 11 civilians, including school kids,
in eastern Mosul," Iraqi News, 2/21/17
-
"ISIS reopens Oil City, Iraqi militias kill 11 fighters in western
Mosul," Iraqi News, 2/21/17
- “UPDATED: Islamic State withdraw from Mosul Airport:
police chief,” Iraqi News, 2/21/17
New Sabah, “Joint forces liberated Abu Saif and kill 90
Daesh members western Mosul,” 2/21/17
Rudaw, “Iraqi forces consolidate their position in
preparation for Mosul airport offensive,” 2/21/17
Shafaaq News, “Popular Crowd closes another escape route for
Daesh leaders to Syria,” 2/21/17
Al Sumaria, "Federal Police: we completed the clearing of Abu
Saif and paved the way to freeing the Mosul airport," 2/21/17
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “As new Mosul offensive
unfolds, sheltering the displaced comes back into focus,” 2/21/17
- “Mosul Weekly Protection Update, 11-17 February 2017,”
2/17/17
World Food Programme, “Iraq – mVAM Bulletin #25: February
2017; Lack of incomes cited as causing food insecurity in newly liberated areas
of Mosul,” 2/21/17
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