There was fighting across eastern Mosul, while the Iraqi
forces (ISF) reached new areas of the city. Starting
at 6 am air strikes hit southeast Mosul paving the way for the 9th
Division to move forward into
the Wahda and Mithaq neighborhoods. By the end of the day the Salam Hospital
had been reached. Wahda was
originally reached on November
30, while Mithaq was new. The goal
of this thrust was to reach the Tigris River and the Fourth Bridge that spans
it. There were also clashes in Noor,
originally penetrated on November
6, Shaimaa,
Dumiz, Barid,
liberated before, Masarif, freed twice, and Qadisiya. The papers didn’t say
whether it was Qadisiya 1, which has been freed twice or Qadisiya 2, which was
freed once. Shaimaa and Dumiz were just breached. Aalam,
the 53rd neighborhood reached, and Shuhada,
originally attacked on November 30
were both freed. Four areas in southern Mosul were shelled
for the second day. The Iraqi command said that a revision in the overall
campaign is coming. Hopefully this is the start of a new move by the rest of
the 9th Division and the Federal Police aimed at the Mosul airport,
which was supposed to be breached a month ago. The southern and northern fronts
have been stalled for weeks now due to a combination of exhaustion, Islamic
State resistance, and the lack of supporting forces to hold the areas they
already took. That has left all the fighting to the Golden Division, along with
elements of the 9th Divisions, and another brigade.
In the west, the Hashd took Tal
Abta. The Hashd reached the Tal Afar district in the middle of November and
have since surrounded the town of the same name. The 16th Division
and Federal Police are supposed to take the town itself. That hasn’t
materialized yet leaving the Hashd to move into the surrounding villages.
The humanitarian crisis within Mosul continues. A Rudaw reporter
was in the Barid neighborhood and found families huddling together trying to
escape the fighting. In one house for example, there were 70 people. There are
continued shortages
of essentials such as fuel for cooking and water.
All the shops have closed in the eastern half of the city, and the Islamic
State is no longer distributing goods to that area either. The military and
non-governmental organizations are trying to truck in water to some areas. Aid
groups are worried that these situations will only get worse as the battle to
take the city drags on.
The Ishtar
satellite channel followed Christians visiting several towns in the Ninewa
plains. They found cemeteries and shrines destroyed and defaced. In the town of
Karemlash, the Islamic State dug up the grave of Saint Addai the Apostle
Church. IS originally claimed that Christians could live in its caliphate as
long as they paid religious taxes or converted, but the reality quickly sunk in
that they would be targeted leading most of the community to flee.
The United Nations and International Organization for
Migration (IOM) had new information on the displacement caused by the Mosul
operation. The number of registered displaced took another jump. At the end of
November there were 76,464,
which went up to 82,068 by December 6. Another 8,000
have returned to their homes, mostly in Nimrod and east Mosul. Winter is upon
Iraq and aid groups and most of the displaced are living in camps, which are
not prepared to deal with freezing temperatures and rain. This is another pending
crisis organizations are worried about.
The U.N. also provided some more insight into casualties. It
said that 1,246 injured people had been treated at Irbil hospitals since the
battle for Mosul started on November 17. One facility in east Mosul sees up to
1,000 people a day injured in the fighting. This has totally overwhelmed the
health groups.
SOURCES
Adel, Loaa, "Joint forces continue liberating 6 areas in
western coast of Mosul," Iraqi News, 11/17/16
- “Photos: Destruction of Christian graves on hands of
ISIS,” Iraqi News, 12/6/16
-
"Photos: ISIS beheads 2 Shia Soldiers near Tal Afar," Iraqi News,
12/6/16
Al Alam, "Iraqi Forces Establish Control over Key Hospital in
Western Mosul," 12/6/16
George, Susannah and Salaheddin, Sinan, “Iraq launches new
push in southeast Mosul,” Associated Press, 12/6/16
International Organization for Migration, “IOM Iraq
Emergency Tracking: Mosul Operations DATA SNAPSHOT: 6 December 2016,” 12/6/16
Iraq Oil Report, "Inside Mosul: Nov. 6, 2016," 11/6/16
- "Inside Mosul, Nov. 25, 2016," 11/25/16
- "Inside Mosul, Nov. 30, 2016," 11/30/16
- "Inside Mosul, Dec. 6, 2016," 12/6/16
Al Masalah, "Freed two areas east Mosul and killed 19
Daash," 12/6/16
Mostafa, Mohamed, "Al-Hashd al-Shaabi liberate Tal Abta in
western Mosul," Iraqi News, 12/6/16
- "Iraqi army engages in ferocious fights with ISIS east of
Mosul," Iraqi News, 12/6/16
- "Iraqi forces partially retake al-Aaalam district at
eastern Mosul," Iraqi News, 12/6/16
New Sabah, "A break in the fight against terrorism as
Qadisiyah neighborhood in Mosul is completely freed," 11/11/16
NINA, "Anti-Terrorism Forces Storm 3 Residential
Neighborhoods In Mosul, kill 16 Terrorists," 11/30/16
Rasheed, Ahmed and Markey, Patrick, “Iraqi army launches
fresh assault towards Mosul center,” Reuters, 12/6/16
Rudaw, "Army says three more Mosul neighborhoods taken from
ISIS," 11/30/16
- "Civilians shelter in place under heavy clashes in Mosul's
northeast," 12/6/16
Shafaq News, "Urgent anti-terrorism forces attack the martyrs
neighborhood," 11/30/16
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
“Iraq: Mosul Humanitarian Response Situation Report #10 (28 November – 4
December 2016),” 12/4/16
Xinhua, "Iraqi forces gain ground, fight heavy clashes with
IS militants in Mosul," 11/29/16
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