The Islamic State is intensifying its attacks upon liberated
west Mosul. On February 15 a 14-year-old suicide bomber was arrested in the
Nur neighborhood, while another
set off his device in a market in Zahra leaving 10 dead and wounding 3. A drone
strike hit the Nabi Younis area killing 3 and wounding 4. The assaults have
grown so bad that the United Nations announced
that it ceased work in the city until it was more secure. A Police colonel told
Reuters that
all the main Iraqi (ISF) units were on the bank of the Tigris preparing for the
assault on the western half of the city leaving the rest under the control of a
hodgepodge of units from some army forces, to police to new local Hashd. The
colonel did not think that was enough to secure the eastern side. The halting
of U.N. work is a major setback for the city as there is already a lack of
services, and the government and aid agencies do not have a large presence in
Mosul. The problem of holding east Mosul is also likely delaying the assault on
the west, as Baghdad has to figure out how it will deal with the liberated
areas before it can take on more.
The intensity of IS attacks was shown in the weekly figures
compiled by Musings On Iraq using over 40 sources, mostly Iraqi newspapers.
During the second week of February 211 people were killed in east Mosul by
drones, mortars, rockets, suicide bombers, and car bombs. The insurgents
executed another 99 civilians. Those were the highest casualty figures since
the third week of January when there was still major combat going on to take
the city.
IS was active in other areas as well. They drowned 13 people
in Mosul on charges of helping the Iraqi forces. 2
suicide bombers also hit a checkpoint in Tal Abta west of Mosul killing 5
Hashd and wounding more.
Getting much less coverage is the casualties caused by ISF shelling
of west Mosul. 7 civilians were killed and 6 wounded when a market was hit by
Iraqi artillery. Every day the Iraqis are firing on the western side, but
because it is under IS control casualties are rarely reported.
The Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development
released a report
on the Intisar neighborhood in southeast Mosul. The group found that there was
no drinking water available in the area forcing people to dig holes in pipes.
There were markets open selling food, bottled water, and other goods, but the
problem was residents didn’t have much cash and there were no jobs. There were
no aid groups or government agencies operating in Intisar to help civilians
either. This is likely the situation in many parts of east Mosul. Life has
returned, and hundreds of people are heading back, but there is still violence,
and there is no real rebuilding going on beyond what regular citizens can do on
their own.
The United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande
visited two displaced camps taking in people from Mosul and expressed
her concerns about the coming assault upon west Mosul. She was worried that
taking the other half of the city would create more humanitarian issues than
the west did. The U.N. is afraid that more people will be displaced, and that
might overwhelm the camps and hospitals set up to assist them. The hospitals in
Irbil that were set up to take in wounded ISF and civilians from east Mosul for
example, were overflowing with patients and running low on supplies. There has
been no news as to whether they were able to re-fill their stocks of medicines,
etc. to take on another huge wave of people.
Agence
France Presse called people in IS occupied west Mosul who are having a far
worse time than the east. A mother said that her family was trying to stock up
on supplies in anticipation of the coming battle, but they didn’t have much to
save. She said that her family was reduced to eating only once a day because
they had such little food. Most stores in the west are empty, and those that do
have goods are selling them for exorbitant prices. Water, heating and cooking
fuel, and electricity are in very short supply as well. One man said he was
burning old clothes because he had no gas for his furnace or stove. Insurgents
are searching homes looking for people with cell phones that they suspect are
being used to pass on information to the government. Those caught with them are
being executed. Many homes along the Tigris have been taken over by the
Islamists to be turned into fighting positions. IS is also digging more tunnels
and carving out holes in walls between buildings to facilitate the movement of
their men so they wouldn’t be exposed to overhead observation or air strikes.
The U.N. and others have warned that west Mosul is suffering a humanitarian
crisis and these interviews were more evidence of that.
SOURCES
Adel,
Loaa, "2 IS suicide bombers kill, wound members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi near
Mosul," Iraqi News, 2/15/17
Agence France Presse, “West Mosul easting once a day and
bracing for worse,” 2/15/17
Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, “Mosul
Neighborhood Snapshot: Al Intisar – February 9, 2017,” 2/9/17
Bas
News, "MOSUL: 14-year-old Suicide Bomber Captured in Time," 2/15/17
Iraq Oil Report, “Inside Mosul: Jan. 15, 2017,” 2/15/17
Janssen, Bram, “UN Temporarily Pausing Aid to Eastern Mosul
Due to Security,” Associated Press, 2/15/17
Kalin, Stephen, “Mosul bombings temper residents’ relief at
Islamic State pushback,” Reuters, 2/15/17
Mostafa,
Mohamed, "Three civilians killed as IS drones bomb eastern Mosul
market," Iraqi News, 2/15/17
-
"UPDATED: Islamic State execute 21 civilians in Mosul, Kirkuk over for
helping police," Iraqi News, 2/15/17
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “Aid agencies braced for
new waves of displacement in Mosul conflict,” 2/15/17
No comments:
Post a Comment