There was some movement on the eastern and western fronts.
The Iraqi forces (ISF) freed two towns in the east, while the Hashd liberated a
village in the west.
The Ghazlani base in southern Mosul continued to be shelled as well. Some Iraqi
papers claimed this showed that the Mosul campaign was back in action, but as
of now this appeared to be more like minor clearing operations. Otherwise, the
Golden Division was removing IEDs from the Zuhur neighborhood
in east Mosul, and the Hashd was still working on securing the roads
around Tal Afar. Members of Kataib Hezbollah and the Imam Ali Brigades said that bad
weather was slowing their operations. A bigger factor was that they are in a
holding position around Tal Afar because the army and police have not organized
any forces to take the town itself.
The Iraqi forces continued to plan for the next phase of the
operation. They are being reinforced in the east. That included U.S. forces
moving up towards the front. American Special Forces have been advising the ISF
and calling in air strikes. U.S. apache helicopters and artillery have been
supporting the advance as well, along with other Coalition air forces. In one
day for instance, a reporter from Foreign
Policy noted there were 43 planes from 9 countries over Mosul carrying out
various missions from air strikes to jamming communications to re-fueling.
The Islamic State continued to force people from their homes
in east Mosul. Al Alam reported
that around 250 families were told to leave the Jazir area. IS has been trying
to get people to follow their retreat to be used as human shields, while
converting the abandoned buildings into firing positions.
On a positive note, a Christmas mass was held in
the town of Bartella for the first time in two years. The town was taken by the
Islamic State in 2014 and freed in October 2016. Unfortunately the town remains
mostly abandoned and destroyed. Almost all the people that attended the service
travelled there from Kurdistan where they have been staying since the
insurgents swept through the area.
SOURCES
Al Alam, "Bombings, Mortar Attacks Claim 10 Lives Across
Iraq," 12/24/16
Face Iraq, “Sources: US ground forces and Apache helicopters
in northern Mosul front with the resumption of fighting,” 12/24/16
Al Forat, "Nineveh Operaions: Progress on northern axis and
control of road south of Tal Afar to Sinjar, west Mosul,' 12/24/16
Al Maalomah, “Counter-terrorism forces destroying explosives
left by Daesh criminals in east Mosul,” 12/24/16
- “Hezbollah Brigades and Imam Ali Brigade reveal reasons
for the slowdown of operation on the western axis,” 12/24/16
MacDiarmid, Campbell, “The Battle to Retake Mosul Is
Stalemated,” Foreign Policy, 12/22/16
Rudaw, “Christian town east of Mosul celebrates first
Christmas post-ISIS,” 12/24/16
No comments:
Post a Comment