A force of at least 100 Islamic State fighters moved from
the Old City district (Sheik Abu Al Ula on map) down the Tigris River and
attacked Danadan and Dawasa neighborhoods (bottom right of map) forcing police
to temporarily retreat to the Mosul International Airport (bottom of map).
Zinjali (top left corner) was finally freed by Iraqi forces on June 13. Iraqis
are now trying to free Shifa (Shafaa on map) and its host of hospitals before
attacking the Old City the last major section of Mosul under IS control.
(Medecins Sans Frontieres)
The Islamic State launched a surprise attack upon the Iraqi
forces in two neighborhoods in southern west Mosul. Starting
at 3 am around 100
Islamic State fighters attacked the Danadan neighborhood coming out of the Old
City district. The fighters moved along the Tigris River and opened with 7 car
bombs from the front and 25 suicide bombers that hit the Federal Police from
the rear. One police commander told the press there might have been up to 50
suicide bombers, but that figure might have just come from the heat of the
battle with so many explosions going off. The Federal Police claimed that IS
sleeper cells were responsible for the attacks from behind. The insurgents set
fire to buildings to create smoke to try to prevent air strikes, took over a mosque
to announce their presence, and executed 6
people. They were able to expand the attack into Dawasa and Nabi Sheet as well.
The police were temporarily forced back to the Mosul airport outside of the
city. By the afternoon, the Iraqi forces (ISF) and a spokesman for the U.S. led
Coalition claimed that all the lost territory was re-captured. That was
contradicted by a man who talked with the Washington Post who said there were
still IS fighters on his block, and a Federal Police officer who told Reuters
clashes continued. Throughout the Mosul battle the insurgents have been able to
occasionally launch these large attacks and throw the ISF back on their heels.
Whenever bad news occurs on the battlefield the Iraqis
unfortunately try to obfuscate and cover things up. That started with the
Federal Police Commander Raed Shakir Jawadat who stated that this was actually
a tactical operation carried out by his forces to draw insurgents out of the
Old City so that they could be destroyed. If that was true then it backfired as
his police got surprised by suicide bombers appearing in their rear. A colonel
from the Rapid Reaction Division gave a different version of the attack claiming that the militants
were attempting to escape their encirclement. Finally, the ISF said that the
Islamic State lost
some of its best foreign fighters during the day. This happens all the time.
The Iraqi government’s policy is to only talk about the victories in the war
against the militants. When setbacks like this happen, the ISF will deny,
distort, and embellish what happens, which is what happened here.
There was fighting in other parts of Mosul as well. According to
Ninewa Operations Command head General Najm al-Jabouri IS also attacked Bab al-Sinjar
and Zinjali, which it just lost to the Iraqi forces, and Shifa, which is still
contested. These actions and the push into Danadan showed that while the
Islamic State are down to their last straw in the overall battle they are still
able to launch these successful tactical operations.
The number of displaced (IDPs) has remained at a low level
for the last several days, while most people are now coming out of west Ninewa.
From June
11-13, an average of 2,000-4,000 IDPs has fled west Mosul per day. That’s
been steady since the start of June. The ISF are now moving people from west
Mosul directly to the east via a pontoon bridge over the Tigris River rather
than telling them to head south to Hamam al-Alil. In comparison, 14,000 people
came out of Baaj along the Syrian border since June 5, and several thousand
more before that. Before the final phase of the Mosul battle there was a huge
outflow of almost 10,000 people per day, but since the fighting started that
has fallen off. On the other hand, the Hashd are reportedly emptying out all
the villages they take in the west, which is why so many IDPs are coming from
there now. It appears the Hashd may want to create a security zone in west
Ninewa, which has happened in other sections of the city such as Jurf al-Sakhr
in Babil and Baiji in Salahddin, and sections of Diyala, and may not allow
civilians to return.
SOURCES
Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, “More Than 100 IS Fighters Attack Iraqi Forces in
Mosul,” Associated Press, 6/14/17
Adhamiyah News, “Military Information Cell: A number of Daash
operatives managed to infiltrate into the Danadan area in Mosul,” 6/14/17
Bas News, “Dozens of IS Militants Return to Two Liberated
Areas in Mosul,” 6/14/17
- “Tens of Daash have infiltrated into liberated Danadan and Nabi Sheet
West Mosul,” 6/14/17
Al-Ghad Press, “The Rapid Reaction Division kills several
Daash in on going clashes in the Danadan district in Mosul,” 6/14/17
Iraq Newspaper, “Iraqi
Newspaper Correspondent A Colonel Commander From The Emergency Police Was
Killed In Fighting On Wednesday,” 6/14/17
- “Iraq Newspaper
Correspondent In Mosul: Daash Terrorists Detonated 6 Booby Trapped Cars In
Dawasah Neighborhood,” 6/14/17
- “Iraqi Newspaper
Correspondent In Mosul: The Fighting Continues And The Police Are Trying To
Restore Order In Danadan Neighborhood,” 6/14/17
- “Iraqi Newspaper
Correspondent In Mosul: Terrorists Are Now Executing Citizens On Charge of
Working With The Iraqi Forces In The Danadan Neighborhood,” 6/14/17
- “Two Terrorist
Attacks In Danadan District And U.S. Killed Police By Mistake In Mosul,”
6/14/17
Al Jazeera, “Iraqis
advance on last ISIL district outside Mosul old city,” 6/14/17
Kittleson, Shelly,
“Remaining civilians flee booby-trapped, sniper-infested west Mosul,” Al
Monitor, 6/13/17
Morris, Loveday and
Salim, Mustafa, “Dozens of Islamic State militants in suicide vests launch
major Mosul counterattack,” Washington Post, 6/14/17
Mostafa, Mohammed, "Iraqi forces take over
2 western Mosul districts, storm 2 others," Iraqi News, 3/7/17
New Sabah,
“Counterterrorism Forces continues its advance in the Shifa district after
controlling most of its main buildings,” 6/14/17
Rahal, Layal Abou, “Ramadan comes with bitter taste for families of
Iraq’s Mosul,” Agence France Presse, 6/14/17
Reuters, “Iraqi forces repel Islamic State counter-attack in west Mosul
– police,” 6/14/17
Rudaw, “ISIS launched
dawn attack on Iraqi army in west Mosul,” 6/14/17
Shafaaq News, “Dash
lost its finest fighters in the attack on Danadan,” 6/14/17
- “The federal police repulsed a fierce attack for five hours in
Mosul,” 6/14/17
- “A tactical operation by the Iraqi forces to draw tens of Daash into
the Danadan from the Nuri Mosque,” 6/14/17
Sobir, Shoguna, “IS Attack in Mosul Kills Dozens of
Soldiers, Civilians,” Bas News, 6/14/17
UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR Flash Update – 13 June 2017,” 6/13/17
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