A market in Nabi Younis, east Mosul (Reuters)
There were clashes in west Mosul, and the Hashd were
advancing towards the Syrian border. The Golden Division was fighting
in Zinjali, and the Federal Police were battling in Rifai, Harmat, and the Wadi
Akab cemetery, both in the eastern section of the city. The Hashd on the other
hand captured
four towns, including the historical Hatra,
west of Mosul. Hatra is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, and the Islamic
State destroyed part of it after it was captured in 2014. In 2015 the group
released a video of it smashing walls, shooting statues, and destroying other
structures. That was for propaganda purposes however, as the main goal of IS
was not to wreck the place, but rather to loot it and sell the antiquities to
help raise funds. The police and Golden Division are attempting to link up in
the Old City district, while the Hashd are pushing towards the Syrian border,
because the government will not let it take Tal Afar.
In Hamam al-Alil south of Mosul a suicide bomber was killed.
On April 23 a group of Islamic State fighters including suicide bombers
infiltrated a Federal Police base in Arij in the Hamam al-Alil district. The
insurgents are attempting to counter attack outside of Mosul, but so far they
have not been that effective.
The New York Times followed a unit from the Golden Division
into west Mosul. It went to Tanak before it was freed. The article covered the
intense street fighting. General Abdul Wahab Saadi told the Times that if the
city had been emptied of civilians the battle would have been over a long time
ago. That didn’t happened because the government could not have supported the
population. At the same time, the article highlighted the different facets of
life in Mosul. On the one hand there was a street battle going on, but a few
blocks away there were shops open. There were also people boarding buses to
leave the city for displaced camps.
Reuters, the Irish Times, and the United Nations all wrote
about how Mosul is trying to rebuild. Reuters
talked with businessmen who were trying to start over. Several entrepreneurs
were pooling their money to rebuild a building so that they could re-open their
shops. One of them said it was up to the people to revive the city. The Irish
Times went to a market in Nabi Younis in east Mosul. People were shopping
and the businesses were reviving. One man talked about all the things he could
sell now that were not allowed under the Islamic State. Finally, the United
Nations noted that 28 neighborhoods in the east now have access to clean
drinking water. This is the first restoration of services. All of these
highlight the resilience of the residents of Mosul. As soon as areas were freed
in the city people went about putting their lives back together. That doesn’t
mean there isn’t a huge amount of work ahead, but the city is moving forward.
The U.N.’s Iraq Assessment Working Group issued a report
on the difficulties Mosul is still facing. The U.N. team conducted a survey in
45 neighborhoods, 38 in the east, and 7 in the west from the end of March to
the start of April 2017. 43 of 45 neighborhoods said there were problems
accessing food. In just over a third of those areas, half to three quarters of
the people hadn’t gotten sufficient food in the last week. The main problems
were getting to markets, no money, a lack of cooking fuel, and the disruption
of farming production. Most people are relying upon gifts, charity, and loans
to get their food. 95% of people in east Mosul were buying on credit. 74%
received food as gifts from friends of family. 5 of 7 neighborhoods in west
Mosul relied upon the U.N. or aid groups for their food, and 3 of 7 of them
said local charities and the community were providers. That compared to only 3
of 36 neighborhoods of east Mosul that relied on the U.N. or aid groups for
food. Still, despite these issues in 38 of 45 neighborhoods residents were
eating an average of two meals per day. In 97% of east Mosul and 100% of west
Mosul neighborhoods 75% or more of the population had not earned a salary in
the last month. 96% of neighborhoods said they were borrowing money. 82% were
getting loans from friends and family, and 80% were spending their savings. The
lack of services meant that 44 of 45 neighborhoods lacked safe drinking water.
Most were using wells and untreated water. Water was just restored to sections
of the east after the report was issued. 29 of 45 neighborhoods had their kids
going to school. 30 of 45 neighborhoods said their schools were damaged. In
west Mosul however, less than 25% of the children were attending. 89% of the
neighborhoods stated they were facing challenges to getting an education. That
included not enough schools or classrooms, teachers not being paid, and a lack
of supplies. While hundreds of thousands of people have left the city there were
others who were displaced within Mosul. 97% of the neighborhoods in east Mosul
and 4 out of 7 in the west said there were displaced people present. There were
also a large number of people returning. 82% of east Mosul and 71% of west
Mosul had people going back to the city. Almost all the displaced were from the
west, although there were some from neighboring districts. The majority of them
were renting a place to stay. Some of these problems are bigger than others.
The lack of jobs was the most important. While the economy is reviving with the
shops and markets, this is all being financed by credit. The government is the
largest employer, and has tried to get its workers back into the city, but the
lack of pay and insecurity has held that up. The government is also putting its
employees through a screening process before they can get paid, and it appears
that process is taking a very long time. The economy cannot really revive until
there are jobs available and people are getting their wages. Others like water are
slowly being restored finally.
Another Kurdish official complained about the Hashd setting
up shop in Mosul. A Kurdish parliamentarian claimed that the Hashd had taken
over a number of buildings belonging to Kurdish parties. They were told to hand
over the property. Two days before a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party
claimed that Hashd groups had set up 34 offices in the city and surrounding
towns. Both claimed this was causing concerns and tensions with the locals. So
far the Kurds are the only ones talking about this in the press.
Reuters was the latest to write about the screening process
going on with the displaced. All the people leaving Mosul are directed to Hamam
al-Alil. There, all the men are separated and screened by the security forces.
Most of the time that process only lasts around 2 hours. Up to 30 people are
arrested per day according to General Bassam Hussein Ali head of security for
the displaced. Human Rights Watch estimated that a total of 1,200 had been
arrested so far, and 700 sent to Baghdad for trial. There are concerns that
part of this process is being shaped by secret informers and people with
grudges. It doesn’t appear that is having much affect however as over 300,000
people have gone through Hamam al-Alil and only 0.004% have been detained.
SOURCES
Adel, Loaa, “Al-Hashd al-Shaabi cuts off road between
al-Hadher and Rawa,” Iraqi News, 4/26/17
Bas News, “Hashd Al-Shaabi Taking Over Headquarters of
Kurdish Parties in Mosul,” 4/26/17
Giblin, Ruaidhri, “After freedom, defiance and dreams of
peace in east Mosul,” Irish Times, 4/26/17
Gordon, Michael, “On the Mosul Front, a Brutal Battle
Against ISIS and Time,” New York Times, 4/26/17
Iraq Assessment Working Group, “Assessment Working Group
Iraq Mosul Multi-Cluster Rapid Needs Assessment April 2017,” 4/26/17
Iraq Oil Report, “Inside Mosul: April 26, 2017,” 4/26/17
Laessing, Ulf, “For some Mosul men, escape leads straight to
the interrogator,” Reuters, 4/26/17
Mostafa,
Mohamed, "Police kill Islamic State suicide bomber south of Mosul,"
Iraqi News, 4/26/17
Al-Ramahl, Mohammed, “Mosul businesses start reconstruction
without waiting for final Islamic State defeat,” Reuters, 4/26/17
Salaheddin, Sinan, “Iraqi forces say they’ve seized Hatra
antiquities site,” Associated Press, 4/26/17
Shafaaq news, “URGENT: Violent clashes with the Counter
Terrorism Forces in central Mosul and the intervention of US F16s,” 4/26/17
Sobir, Shoguna, "Three Villages Recaptured from IS in
al-Hadar West of Mosul," Bas News, 4/26/17
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR
Flash Update – 25 April 2017,” 4/25/17
UN News Centre, “Six months into battle for Mosul, water and
trauma care are key UN and partner priorities,” 4/26/17
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