Fighting in the rubble of the Old City west Mosul (Radio
Nawa)
The Iraqi forces (ISF) are making rapid gains in the Old
City of west Mosul. The Federal Police claimed they freed
Bab al-Lakash in the south of the district, but there were multiple reports
that fighting
was still going on there. Also in the south the army’s 16th Division
seized Farouq
2 and Masnouriya, while the Golden Division were moving in the center and
north and took Shahar Suq, Nabi
jarjeesh, and Abdul Khoob. Heavy clashes were also going on in Bab Jadid, Sargkhana, Mashahj,
Bab al-Bakr, Qurnish, Bab al-Baid and Khazraj. Those last two have been
declared liberated before. The Federal Police and Rapid Reaction Division were
also clearing
out south Sargkhana in the Old City and the medical complex in Shifa, a
neighborhood to the south of the district along the Tigris River. After taking
Nouri Mosque the ISF are continuing with their multi-pronged attack against the
Islamic State. The three thrusts into the Old City, north, center and south,
has now been joined by a fourth
coming down from Shifa along the Tigris River. From the start the plan has been
to divide up the district into smaller and smaller parts and then destroy the
IS fighters contained within. The Golden Division’s General Abdul Ghani
al-Asadi believes
there are only 200-300 IS left in the Old City, and while the Iraqis are
pushing the theme that things will be over in a few days it would not be
surprising if it was a bit longer than that.
For the last seven days the insurgents have been attempting
to carry out operations in the liberated areas of Mosul. Three suicide bombers
were killed
in Yarmouk on the western edge of west Mosul. A fourth
was found and met a similar fate a short period later. Yarmouk was one of three
neighborhoods IS launched a successful surprise attack upon a week ago. In
response, the Defense Ministry held an emergency session
with all the different security forces involved in the city, the police, the
army, the Hashd, and the intelligence agencies. They reportedly came up with a new
security plan for the city, which will be rolled out in the following days. The
major problem is that there are so many different units all operating under
their own commands with no real cooperation. Some areas in the west have little
to no security at all because there are not enough forces available. Those are
all reasons why the militants have been able to carry out so many violent acts
in the last few days.
Human Rights Watch issued another report
on abuses of IS suspects by the ISF. It talked to several witnesses that saw
members of the police and army seize men in crowds of displaced and beat them.
Members of the ISF have also talked about killing their detainees. A Swedish
paper recently talked with a Federal Police officer who bragged he had beheaded
50 IS fighters and showed off pictures and videos of his actions on his phone.
One man said that with victory so close the ISF are no longer afraid to hide
they abuses and were now doing it openly in front of people. For years now the
Iraqi forces have had a history of abuses, torture, and extra judicial
killings. The rise of IS in 2014 has only increased these cases as anyone
suspected of being associated with the group is considered void of their
humanity, and committing crimes against them is not only accepted, but actually
cheered by members of the public. That has only increased the brutality of the
Iraqi forces, which might have a lasting impact upon them.
This mood is having a larger affect upon Iraqi society as
Ninewa is the latest province to start group punishments against IS families.
The United Nations also pointed
out that Shirqat in Salahaddin and Hit in Anbar, along with Qayara and Mosul in
Ninewa are witnessing organizations telling families with IS members to leave
their homes or be kicked out. Many times tribes are behind these actions.
Hundreds of families have been threatened as a result. The U.N. called on
Baghdad to intervene. Reportedly Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is against
these actions in Ninewa, and has told the intelligence agencies to stop any
deportations. The problem is with so many different security forces working in
the governorate and the ill will versus IS so virulent the government doesn’t
have the power to stop this from happening. It also doesn’t help that Baghdad
has no reconciliation plan that it can offer as an alterantive.
Finally, in western Ninewa along the Syrian border the
insurgents carried out three attacks. These
occurred in the Sinjar district. The Hashd fought off all of them and claimed
the militants were coming across from Syria. Since reaching the border area the
Hashd have been setting up bases in places like Baaj, and displacing the
population to keep it a security area, which they can control. IS has only
occasionally struck back, usually with rockets and mortars, but an occasional
infantry thrust as well. The open ground makes it easy to locate and destroy
them.
SOURCES
AIN, “Security
forces continue to choke Daesh and expect the liberation of west Mosul within
days,” 6/30/17
Baghdad Post, "Video: Security forces kill 3 ISIS
suicide bombers in Mosul," 6/30/17
Duparcq, Emmanuel,
“Mosul victory in ‘days’ as pressure on IS mounts,” Agence France Presse,
6/30/17
Al Forat News,
“Ninewa Operations Command adopts new plans to secure Mosul,” 6/30/17
- “Security forces
open a new hub to reach the river bank on the right bank of Mosul,” 6/30/17
Al Ghad Press, "The popular crowd foils three attempts
to infiltrate from Syrian territory," 6/30/17
Human Rights Watch,
“Iraq: New Abuse, Execution Reports of Men Fleeing Mosul,” 6/30/17
Iraq Newspaper,
“Iraq Reporter In Mosul: Fierce Battles Within Khazraj, Bab al-Bakr, Qurnish,
Farouq, Sarghana, Bab al-Lakash” 6/30/17
- "Iraq's Reporter In Mosul: Nafi And Mohammed Salman
Killed In Fighting On Friday," 6/30/17
- “Iraqi Newspaper
Reporter In Mosul: Daesh Terrorist Bombing Of The Nouri Mosque With Mortars And
Four Families Now Displaced From Their Neighborhood,” 6/30/17
Iraqi Media Network,
“Counterterrorism Forces: Shahar Suq and the area of Nabi Jarjeesh and Abdul
Khoob liberated in Old City,” 6/30/17
- “The Federal
Police complete the clearing of sites and hospitals in the Old City,” 6/30/17
- “Federal police
liberate Bab al-Lakash in the southern axis of the Old City,” 6/30/17
Kalin, Stephen and
Tomasevic, Goran, “Islamic State under pressure in Iraqi and Syrian
strongholds,” Reuters, 6/30/17
Mostafa, Mohamed, “Counter-terrorism forces retake more
areas in Mosul’s Old City,” Iraqi News, 6/30/17
- “Iraqi forces close in on IS redoubt in Mosul after
declaring ‘end of caliphate,’” Iraqi News, 6/30/17
Oda, Suha, “Mosul residents divided over ‘burqa ban,’” Al
Monitor, 6/29/17
Radio Nawa,
“Counterterrorism Forces: Less than 300 Daesh in Mosul,” 6/30/17
Rudaw, “The Federal
Police are hunting down Daesh memers in old Mosul neighborhoods,” 6/30/17
- “Iraqi forces liberate Al-Farouq neighborhood in Mosul,”
6/30/17
- “Iraqi troops
fighting for last few hundred meters of ISIS ground in Mosul,” 6/30/17
- “Nineveh’s
Christians wary of returning home without international protection,” 6/30/17
Shafaaq News, “Iraqi
forces continue to advance into old Mosul and free Jumhuriya Oil Station and
Kaab Bin Malik,” 6/30/17
- “UN calls on Iraq
to stop displacement from Mosul,” 6/30/17
- “URGENT: Al-Farouq
2 neighborhood in Mosul freed by Iraqi forces,” 6/30/17
Al Sumaria, "A fourth suicide bomber was killed in the
Yarmouk area of Mosul," 6/30/17
UN Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights, “OHCHR Briefing Note on Iraq, 30 June
2017,” 6/30/17
Walsh, Nick Paton,
Abdelaziz, Salma and Said-Moorhouse, Lauren, “Mosul: Iraqi forces take al-Nuir
Mosque in final push to seize Old City,” CNN, 6/30/17
Xinhua, “Iraqi
forces recapture neighborhood amid advance to clear Mosul of IS militants,”
6/30/17
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