In the last two days the police and armor from the 9th
Division moved out of Abu Saif in the south, took the town of Yarmouk. The
Golden Div joined in and together they have freed the Mosul Airport, Ghazalni
Camp, and entered Tel Ruman, Mamun, Wadi Hajar, Hawl al-Josaq and Dandan. (Medecins
Sans Frontieres)
February 24 the Iraqi forces (ISF) secured the Mosul airport
and Ghazlani camp and headed north into the city itself. The Golden Division secured Ghazlani, while the
Federal Police and Rapid Reaction Division, supported by armor of the 9th
Division did the same for Mosul airport. Large numbers of Islamic State
fighters surrendered
to the police at the airfield, something that has not really been reported
before. This could point to the insurgents’ morale breaking. The Golden
Division then moved
into the Maamun Wadi
Hajar neighborhoods to the northwest of Ghazlani. The two police units went
for Hawl al-Josaq and Dandan, which are directly north of the airport, freeing
the latter. The army’s 9th Division and the Hashd’s Al Abbas
Division took Tal Ruman that is to the east of Maamun. The ISF were using
bulldozers to make new roadways to avoid the main thoroughfares, which have
been laced with IEDs. Moving to the outskirts of the city was relatively easy,
but now the real fight is beginning as the ISF enter the Mosul itself.
The Hashd in the western Tal Afar district were also busy.
They liberated
three towns. The Hashd have moved form cutting the supply lines from Tal Afar
to Syria to interdicting the lines from Mosul to Tal Afar.
There were constant Coalition air strikes and U.S. Apache
helicopters flying overhead as the ISF moved into Mosul. Those were facilitated
by U.S. and Coalition advisers, which are now forward deployed at the front
with the Golden, Rapid Reaction, and 9th Divisions. The Associated
Press talked with U.S. Lt. Colonel James Browning who was working with the
9th Division. He took calls from an Iraqi general on IS locations,
which were then confirmed by Coalition surveillance, and then hit with air,
helicopter or artillery fire. Before these Iraqi requests would have to be
forwarded to the joint operations command in Baghdad before anything could be
done taking precious time. Now the call and response period is much quicker.
This is part of the Trump administration’s more aggressive approach to taking
on the Islamic State. As a result, the Americans have loosened the rules of
engagement and allowed its troops to be at the front, which has also resulted
in casualties. This change in policy will greatly enhance the Iraqis ability to
clear areas and advance in the city.
The renewed fighting has led to a new wave of displaced. The
Iraq Red Crescent reported
that approximately 990 people registered with the government and aid agencies
fleeing south Mosul. These civilians were taken to Qayara to the south of the
city or to Irbil in the east where camps are set up. For the last few weeks
more people were going back to their homes, but that has now been reversed as
the battle for west Mosul has begun.
Securing east Mosul is still a major challenge. The National
Security Service (NSS) is trying to hunt
down IS members. They are collecting information on suspects using
information from locals. The NSS however is not the only group doing security
duties. There are also army, police, and local Hashd units. These groups hardly
coordinate and compete with each other, which has caused all kinds of problems.
People are also beginning to complain about the raids and mass arrests. Prime
Minister Haidar Abadi is talking
about appointing a military governor of Mosul again to try to unify this
effort. This idea was brought up before, but nothing came of it. Now that IS is
picking up its attacks there is added pressure to try to find a solution.
National Security Service raid in east Mosul (Al
Jazeera)
The danger facing east Mosul continued. The Iraqi forces interdicted
a large force of IS fighters attempting to cross the Tigris River. More
importantly residents said that IS is posting threats to people on social
networks. The militants recently put up flyers in an east Mosul neighborhood
intimidating people as well. These are very serious because if people feel that
they are not safe they will eventually stop providing intelligence to the Iraqi
forces. If that happens there is no way to root out the Islamic State and they
can start rebuilding their networks in the city just as Baghdad has expended so
much energy to try to win over the populace by liberating them.
U.S. general Joseph Votel gave a rough estimate of
the Iraqi casualties from the battle for east Mosul. He said 500 Iraqi soldiers
died and another 3,000 were wounded. More ISF were reported killed in the
press, but only around half as many injured. The real figures may never become
public as Baghdad is completely adverse to bad news about the war coming out.
Finally, the Oil Ministry announced
that another oil well in Qayara had been extinguished. That leaves three wells
still ablaze. The field was set on fire when IS was forced out in August, and
has been an environmental disaster ever since.
SOURCES
Al Aalem, “Pictures: large numbers of Daesh in the hands of
the Rapid Reaction Forces south Mosul,” 2/24/17
BBC, “Iraqi forces enter IS-held neighbourhood in west
Mosul,” 2/24/17
Beck, John, “Hunting down ISIL sleeper cells in Mosul,”
2/24/17
Chulov, Martin, “Iraqi forces seize Mosul airport from Isis
as Syrian rebels take al-Bab,” Guardian, 2/24/17
Al
Forat, "Foiled Daesh attack in Al Manatiq," 2/24/17
George, Susannah and Szlanko,
Balint, “US changes rules of engagement for Mosul fight in Iraq,” Associated
Press, 2/24/17
Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: Feb. 23, 2017," 2/23/17
Iraq Red Crescent Society, “Iraqi Red Crescent: Increase in
the number of displaced people to 990 after operations begin in he West side of
Mosul City,” 2/24/17
Kalin, Stephen and Coles, Isabel, “Iraqi forces push into
first districts of western Mosul,” Reuters, 2/24/17
Al Mada, “Founder of the first Nineveh Operations Command is
responsible for security in the left coast of Mosul,” 2/25/17
- “Thwarted an infiltration attempt by hundreds of militants
into the left coast of Mosul,” 2/25/17
Al Masalah, “Oil Ministry announces extinguishing well #58
in Qayyarah field,” 2/25/17
New Sabah, “The joint forces liberated Ghazlani camp and
Mosul airport flying the Iraqi flag over them,” 2/24/17
Rudaw, “LIVE: Iraqi forces enter first district in western
Mosul, gain ground against ISIS,” 2/24/17
Salim, Mustafa and Morris, Loveday, “Iraqi jets strike
Islamic State in Syria for first time as troops advance in Mosul,” Washington Post,
2/24/17
Shafaaq News, “Full details of the last 24-hours of battle
in Mosul,” 2/24/17
Shakir, Sarhad and Qassim, Ahmed, "Iraqi forces take 1st
district of W. Mosul: Army source," Anadolu Agency, 2/23/17
Stanglin, Doug, “Iraqi troops battle booby-trapped drones as
they enter western Mosul,” USA Today, 2/24/17
Voice of America, “US-backed Iraqi Forces Take Control of
Mosul Airport, Enter City,” 2/24/17
Wedeman, Ben, “Battle for Mosul: Iraqi forces advance near
key area in city’s west,” CNN, 2/24/17
1 comment:
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
Your article is very well done, a good read.
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