The Hashd and Federal Police were moving southwest of Mosul
heading for the town of Tal Afar on the thirteenth day of the Mosul operation.
That led to more inflammatory remarks by Turkey. There were also more executions
by the Islamic State and displacement.
On October 29, 2016 the Hashd announced
they were joining the Hashd operation. The aim was to capture the towns of
Hatra, Tal Abta and Tal Afar. The various groups were taking three
routes to Tal Afar from the southeast. They were supported by elements of
the Federal Police. Together they freed 15 towns.
The Hashd entering the fray led to more angry comments by Turkey’s
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He threatened to reinforce the
border town of Silopi near Tal Afar to protect the town’s Turkmen against
any Hashd terrorism. On the other hand, the Turkish Foreign minister offered
diplomatic talks to resolve Turkey’s military base in Bashiqa, which Baghdad
has demanded by abandoned. Ankara has constantly made these types of comments
as it considers Mosul under its sphere of influence. It does not want the Hashd
involved in the campaign, seeing them as pro-Iranian, sectarian actors. It also
wants to be part of the liberation process to ensure its influence, but all it
has done so far is anger many Iraqis and Baghdad.
The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) was also at work. The army
and Federal Police said they had freed Shura
for the second time. It was originally declared freed the second day of the
operation, but that appeared to be an exaggeration. The 9th Division
of the Iraqi army liberated another six villages.
In Mosul, there was more news of massacres and displacement.
The Iraqi Human Rights Commission claimed
100 people were executed in Mosul. Iraq Oil Report also received a story from a
resident that civilians were trying to abandon
the city. There are still reports of sporadic attacks by resistance movements
against the Islamic State inside Mosul.
Finally, there were some new figures on the number of
displaced that this campaign has caused. On October 28 the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees stated
that 16,566 people had left their homes since the Mosul campaign started on
October 17. At the same time, around 900 people had already left the camp at
Debaga and gone back to their homes in the Qayara district south of Mosul.
October 29 the International Organization for Migration had approximately 17,500
displaced so far. The U.N. has mentioned that there is a constant flow of
people south of Mosul with people fleeing the Islamic State, but others
returning to their towns as son as they are liberated.
SOURCES
Abdallah,
Amir, "Human Rights Commission: ISIS executes 100 civilians in
Mosul," Iraqi News, 10/29/16
Adel, Loaa, "Federal Police liberate 2 villages in Shura
area," 10/29/16
Agence France Presse, “Iraq forces launch operation to cut
Mosul off from Syria,” 10/29/16
Bas News, “Turkey Aims to Reinforce Military on Iraq’s
Border against Militias,” 10/29/16
Buratha
News, "Popular crowd forces exploded 20 bombs during operations west of
Mosul," 10/29/16
Al
Forat, "Pictures .. Five martyrs of the Ashura brigade in the battle to
liberate Mosul," 10/29/16
Iraq Oil Report, “Inside Mosul: Oct. 29, 2016,” 10/29/16
Iraqi News, "Iraqi forces liberate al-Shura district south of
Mosul," 10/18/16
Al Maalomah, "The martyrdom of four soldiers in bombing by
the international coalition north of Mosul," 10/29/16
Morris, Loveday and Salim, Mustafa, “Shiite militias join
offensive to retake Mosul from Islamic State,” Washington Post, 10/29/16
NINA, “A Turkish invitation to Baghdad to resolve the
Ba’shiqah camp crisis diplomatically,” 10/28/16
NRT TV, "Peshmerga Forces Foil ISIS Attack East of
Mosul," 10/29/16
Rudaw, "LIVE UPDATES MOSUL OFFENSIVE: DAY 13," 10/29/16
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “Iraq: Situation Flash
Update, 28 October 2016,” 10/28/16
Xinhua, "Iraqi forces free town from IS in south of
Mosul," 10/29/16
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