Iraqi forces preparing for final assault on 4-7
neighborhoods Islamic State still controls in west Mosul (white area) (Ninewa
Media Cell)
No combat was reported in Mosul during the day. That was
because the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) were gearing up for the final push on
the city. The Joint Operations Command told the press that the city would
fall in a few days. Even so, it warned that the fighting in the Old City would
be difficult because of the narrow streets forcing the ISF to move into the
district on foot. The ISF was also trying
to get civilians to leave the area. Coalition spokesman
Colonel Ryan Dillon wouldn’t give a timeline for how long the battle would
take, but didn’t think it would be over quickly like the Iraqis. Finally, Badr
head Hadi Amiri criticized
the Coalition for only giving token support and blamed it for Mosul not being
liberated yet. Iraqi announcements are always positive because of its victory
narrative. It wasn’t that long ago that they were claiming that the west Mosul
would be so much easier than the east because most of the Islamic State
fighters had fled. That didn’t happen. Amiri on the other hand is an ally of
Iran and always looks to denigrate the work of the Americans and its allies as
a result. Colonel Dillon was probably the most realistic. Mosul will fall, but
no one can be sure how long it will take.
There was another story of looting inside Mosul.
Activists in the city warned of growing numbers of robberies with people
stealing from abandoned homes. These types of reports have been going on for several
months now, and have included gangs as well as government officials and members
of the Iraqi forces. Security needs to be a main priority if the authorities
are hoping to restore life to the city.
In western Ninewa the Hashd were in the second phase of
their operation. The Sinjar
military base, four
villages, and an apartment complex of Baaj were also
seized during the day. Asaib Ahl Al-Haq spokesman Jawad Talabawi shot back at
Kurdish criticism of the campaign by saying that the Hashd had the right to
enter Sinjar and didn’t need the Kurds’ approval. He went on to say that the
Kurds could complain all they wanted about the Hashd’s presence because they
were not leaving. He finished by saying that President Massoud Barzani was
following a foreign agenda. The Sinjar mayor who is allied with Barzani asked
where Asaib Ahl Al-Haq was when the Peshmerga freed most of the district and
that it was the Hashd who were under foreign influence. Barzani’s Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) is struggling to maintain control over the Sinjar
district, and don’t want the Hashd to be there to cause more problems. Many of
the Hashd forces like Asaib Ahl Al-Haq are opposed to the Kurds’ ties to Turkey
and calls for independence, and have entered Sinjar as much to fight the
Islamic State as to provoke the KDP.
There was more news about the Jadida bombing. The executive
summary of the U.S. investigation into the bombing added a few more details
to the story. The Golden Division called in an air strike after it was engaged
by two snipers a top a building. A GBU-38 500 pound guided bomb was used. The
bomb caused explosives inside the building to detonate and brought down the structure.
Inspectors found residue of other explosives not associated with the GBU-38,
which was the evidence that the insurgents had placed some of their own inside
the house. The Islamic State had entered the area a few days before, and
evicted families to use their homes as fighting position. The displaced were
invited by a neighbor into his house, which was the one hit. IS fighters told
people in the building that they should move north because of the fighting, and
if anything happened to them it was not their fault. The deputy head of the Ninewa council called
for the U.S. to pay compensation to the victims since it was responsible.
Locals also disputed the American’s version of events. Survivors and neighbors
of the bombing along with General Mohammed al-Jawari the civil defense chief in
Mosul told the Associated Press and Washington
Post that there were no explosive inside the building. Civil defense teams
that clear out the rubble from battle damage also said they pulled out more
than 200 bodies that day, and that more than one house was destroyed. The
incident was such a traumatic event with so many victims that there is sure to
be continued controversy over it for the foreseeable future. It isn’t helped
that the Americans hit a house to take out just two snipers. The situation is
further complicated by the fact that the Iraqi government told people to stay
inside the city, the ISF knew that the militants were using human shields, and
residents have been sheltering inside basements during the fighting. Those all
add more questions as to why the Iraqis and Coalition increased the use of not
only air strikes but artillery and mortar fire inside Mosul if they knew there
was a greater chance to cause civilian casualties.
Speaking of controversies there was more over the Der
Spiegel article. The German magazine published a piece by an Iraqi photographer
accusing the Rapid Reaction Division (RRD) of torturing and killing IS suspects
during the Mosul campaign. The spokesman for
the RRD said that the unit released two videos interviewing people who were in
Der Spiegel refuting the story. On the other hand, a member of the
Baghdad Security Council told TRT World that the Iraqi forces kill IS members.
He said, “Yes, we kill ISIS. If we capture an ISIS, we do kill them.” After
that he went on to say that Der Spiegel was spreading IS propaganda. The Iraqis
are doing a poor job to counter the Der Spiegel piece. On the one hand the
videos are a powerful response. At the same time, the commander of the ERD unit
told ABC
that he didn't take prisoners and that he was proud of his abuse, which was
backed up by the Baghdad Security Council member. Abuse is institutionalized
within the ISF, so there’s no surprise that this story emerged. Human rights
groups have also found Iraqi forces posting videos of killing prisoners before.
The climax of the Mosul battle is leading to the largest
displacement from the city so far. The International Organization for Migration
counted
an average of 10,000 people per day fleeing the city. On May 18 approximately
16,100 left, the largest single day count since the campaign started in October
2016. At the same time, a total of 117,732 people have gone back to east Mosul,
and another 34,841 to the west. The displaced continue to talk about the
hardships people face within the areas under IS control including eating grass
and weeds for food. The insurgents are also threatening to kill anyone that
attempts to escape. The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Aid groups are afraid of another massive wave of people coming out when the
final neighborhoods of the city are assaulted. As soon as the fighting is over
however, there is likely going to be a large flow of people back into Mosul. There
they will face a whole host of new problems such as finding jobs, rebuilding,
and acquiring services.
SOURCES
Agence France Presse, “Iraq probes report of rights abuses
in Mosul operation,” 5/25/17
Anadolu Agency,
“Iraqi army braces for fresh push on Daesh-held W. Mosul,” 5/26/17
Baghdad Post, “As doomy end looms, ISIS deploys suicide
bombers, snipers in Mosul,” 5/26/17
Buratha News,
“Al-Amiri: International coalition is one of the factors delaying the
liberation of Mosul,” 5/26/17
- “The popular crowd
announces the complete liberation of Sinjar military base,” 5/26/17
- “The popular crowd
controls four villages and the Sinjar-Baaj road west of Qayrawan,” 5/26/17
Chmaytelli, Maher
and Coles, Isabel, “Iraqi forces call on civilians to flee Mosul’s IS-held Old
City,” Reuters, 5/26/17
Gibbons-Neff, Thomas
and Salim, Mustafa, “Mosul neighbors reject U.S. claim that ISIS stores
explosives in building leveled in airstrike,” Washington Post, 5/26/17
International
Organization for Migration, “Thousands Continue to Flee West Mosul: UN
Migration Agency,” 5/26/17
Middle East Monitor,
“Iraq official admits to war crimes in Mosul,” 5/26/17
New Sabah, “A few
neighborhoods separate Nineveh Operations Command liberated all of Mosul,”
5/26/17
- “Warnings of
robbery gangs in liberated areas of Mosul,” 5/26/17
Nordland, Rod,
“Iraqi Forces in Mosul Plan ISIS Assault, but Fight Could Be Long,” New York
Times, 5/26/17
Operation Inherent
Resolve, “Executive Summary of the Investigation of the Alleged Civilian
Casualty Incident in the al Jadidah District, Mosul,” 5/25/17
Rojkan, Mira, “Iraqi
Commander Rejects Report on Civilian Abuse by Army,” Bas News, 5/26/17
Rudaw, “Shiite force
says they do not need Kurdish consent to enter Shingal,” 5/26/17
- “Shiite
paramilitaries capture part of Baaj near Syrian border,” 5/26/17
Szlanko, Balint and
Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, “Iraqis demand compensation after US probe into Mosul
strike,” Associated Press, 5/26/17
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR
Flash Update – 25 May 2017,” 5/25/17
Watkins, Thomas, “US probe finds over 100 civilians killed
in Mosul air strike,” Agence France Presse, 5/26/17
Xinhua, “Iraqi forces urge civilians to leave homes in
IS-held neighborhoods in western Mosul,” 5/26/17
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