Friday, July 7, 2017

Mosul Campaign Day 263 Jul 6 2017


The fighting in west Mosul was down to the last five neighborhoods and areas. Bab al-Tob, which was declared freed yesterday, was now cut off and surrounded. It is one of the southern entrances to the Old City district. The other areas still under Islamic State control were all along the Tigris River. That included Qurnish, Shahwan, Najafi Street, and Maidan. There were a few reports that claimed the entire city was freed, but that seemed to be propaganda. Various military and political leaders said that July 6 was the day victory was to be declared in the campaign, but that appeared to be a date set by politics not the situation on the ground.

A Golden Division commander claimed that IS families were joining in the fighting. According to General Sami al-Aridi women were firing on the Iraqi forces and using children as human shields. IS has already deployed female suicide bombers so it should be no surprise that some would also take part in combat as well.

The United Nations has given more estimates on the war damage in Mosul and the likely costs of repairs. The U.N.’s Lise Grande said there were 44 neighborhoods in west Mosul. Of those, 6 are completely destroyed, and the other 38 have suffered light to medium damage. Restoring basic services to the western half of the city such as water and electricity could cost as much as $707 million. A satellite study by the same organization found almost 1800 buildings in the Old City alone damaged or destroyed. The U.N. predicted that $1 billion may be necessary to rebuild the entire city. That is a huge bill, which the Iraqi government cannot meet on its own. It plans on going to international donors and the World Bank to raise funds. The country has not received much so far from those sources, which is a bad sign for the future.

Yesterday, the insurgents launched an assault on the Qayara district to the southeast of Mosul. One town was seized by around 150 fighters, and the Federal Police and tribal Hashd were forced to retreat. A unit from the Golden Division was dispatched to help try to recapture the village. For two weeks now IS has been carrying out operations throughout the liberated areas of Mosul and Ninewa. Most of these are terrorist attacks, but this one, and another in western Mosul were much more serious given the number of IS members involved. They show that there are still plenty of IS cells operating that need to be hunted down and eliminated.

The United Nations officially put the total number of displaced since the start of the Mosul campaign at 1,034,670. Of those, 212,832 have returned, while the remaining 821,838 remain displaced. From July 4-5 around 3,650 arrived in Hamam al-Alil the main screening center to the south of the city. Another 2,672 went to east Mosul. The U.N. believes there is roughly 20,000 civilians still in the Old City under IS control. The number of people heading back has recently gone down because of the militant attacks in freed areas, which has raised concerns about whether they are safe or not.

SOURCES

Ahmed, Hunar, “ISIS controls its final few meters in Mosul,” Rudaw, 7/6/17

AIN, “Besieging a village in western Qayarah after infiltration of the area,” 7/6/17
- “The federal police infiltrate Najafi in old Mosul,” 7/6/17

Alittihad, “Another unit broke into western Mosul and uncovered an underground training camp,” 7/6/17

Baghdad Post, “Iraqi forces kill 20 terrorists, free Yazidi girl in Old City of Mosul,” 7/6/17
- “Massive explosion rocks Old City of Mosul,” 7/6/17

Bas News, “IS Guns down Iraqi Commander in Mosul’s Old City,” 7/6/17
- “Mosul: 80 Meters Left from Last IS-held Area to Be Retaken: Commander,” 7/6/17

Cockburn, Patrick, “Mosul: The last days of the shrinking Isis enclave in the Old City,” Independent, 7/6/17

Duparcq, Emmanuel with Dunlop, W.G., “Civilians trapped as Iraq forces battle IS in Mosul,” Agence France Presse, 7/6/17

Al Forat, “URGENT Al Forat reporter: Mosul is completely liberated and clashes stopped,” 7/6/17

George, Susannah, “Iraqi commanders say IS families have joined Mosul fight,” Associated Press, 7/6/17

Al Ghad Press, “Federal Police Commander: Our forces are approaching the Sheikh Abu al-Ala Mosque in old Mosul,” 7/6/17
- “War Media Cell announces the clearing of the last remaining areas of old Mosul,” 7/6/17

Gordon, Michael, “No Escape From Mosul, and Unlikely Chance of Surrender,” New York Times, 7/6/17

Iraq Newspaper, “Al Iraq Reporter In Mosul: Suicide Bomber Detonates His Explosive Jacket In Al Shaarin Area,” 7/6/17
- “Iraqi Newspaper Reporter In Mosul: Raed al-Fartousi, Five Units Killed 83 Daesh On Thursday,” 7/6/17

Iraq Oil Report, “July 6, 2017,” 7/6/17

Al Jazeera, “UN: 20,000 civilians trapped in ISIL-held Mosul areas,” 7/6/17

Al Mayadeen, “Iraq: Al-Mayadeen reporter: Federal police begin to storm Al-Maidan neighborhood in old Mosul,” 7/6/17

NINA, "Security Forces Crack Down Three Attacks To Daesh, South Of Mosul," 7/5/17

Al Rafidain, "Government Forces Say They Took Bab al-Tob In The Old City," 7/5/17
- “Ninewa Operations: 3 Military Forces Will Occupy The Are After The Liberation Of Mosul,” 7/6/17

Reuters, “more than 5,500 buildings in Mosul’s Old City need repair, U.N. says,” 7/6/17

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR Flash Update – 6 July 2017,” 7/6/17

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