December 25 the Golden Division attacked the Quds
district on the outskirts of east Mosul. On December
26 the Islamic State counter attacked there with three car bombs all of
which were destroyed. This was the first movement by the Iraqi forces (ISF) in east
Mosul in several days after they were paused to recover from two months of
heavy fighting.
IS was also said to be changing their tactics inside the
city. The group has been relentlessly shelling the eastern half of Mosul. Mortar
fire for example, killed two civilians on December 26. Their
firing positions however have been targeted by the U.S. led Coalition and Iraqi
forces. The militants were now said to be mounting mortars on vehicles so that
they could fire, quickly change positions and then fire again before they were
spotted and destroyed.
The last two days air strikes have been blamed for civilian
casualties inside Mosul. On December
26 seven civilians were wounded in one such incident. It can only be
speculated whether this was done by the U.S. led Coalition or the Iraqis.
All of the rest of the news was on plans for the new Mosul
campaign. Reuters
said that U.S. troops would be inside Mosul itself to provide front line
targeting for air strikes and advice to the Iraqi forces. It along with Iraqi
News also noted that more troops and police were moving into eastern Mosul
to reinforce the units already there, while Al Alam reported that the ISF were
fortifying their positions in northern and eastern Mosul.
SOURCES
Adel, Loaa, “Commander: Military reinforcements arrive in
Mosul,” Iraqi News, 12/26/16
Al Alam, “Over 70 ISIS Terrorists Killed by Iraqi Forces
Counter Attack in Mosul,” 12/26/16
Al
Forat, "The destruction of three car bombs left coast Mosul,"
12/26/16
Kalin, Stephen, “Exclusive: Fresh advance in east Mosul to
begin within days – U.S. commander,” Reuters, 12/26/16
Al
Maalomah, "The death of two civilians, shelling by Daesh criminals central
Mosul," 12/26/16
Rudaw, “US general praises ‘remarkably disciplined’ Shiite
forces,” 12/26/16
Shafaaq
News, "Wounding seven civilians from one family in air strike east
Mosul," 12/26/16
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