UN installing power transformer in east Mosul to deliver
electricity to neighborhoods (UNDP)
Iraqi army clearing rubble from a road in east Mosul
(Baghdad Post)
Corpses washed up along the bank of the Tigris in west Mosul
(Middle East Eye)
Several dead bodies showed up in West Mosul, but they were
all Islamic State members. Three corpses were discovered shot
in the head and handcuffed under one of the destroyed bridges across the Tigris
River. There have been reports
of other corpses turning up, blindfolded, showing signs of torture, and
execution. An army major told Middle
East Eye that an order had gone out to kill any IS elements they found in
the city. Stories of these extra judicial killings have been going on for
several days now. There are still arrests going on however, so the major’s
story has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Another narrative which has recently been in the press has
been some Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) helping militants escape Mosul. Bas News had a
story that 9 officers from the army and Federal Police, and around 30 other
soldiers have been accused of smuggling IS members out of the city and
providing them with supplies. Local officials have also allegedly been
implicated. Al
Ghad Press, had a less believable story that insurgents were using fake IDs
to join the tribal Hashd units working inside Mosul. The ISF are notoriously
corrupt, so it is possible some have taken bribes from IS members. Joining the
tribal Hashd seems very improbable. The risks of being discovered seem too
great, and if they had false papers why would they decide to stay? It’s too
soon after the battle for the organization to have come up with some type of
infiltration plan into the security forces. The story sounds like
disinformation spread by a rival of the tribal Hashd in Mosul.
IS families have recently been singled out for persecution
in Ninewa province. A part of that equation is the children who were the
offspring of Islamic State fighters. The head of the Office of Women and
Children in Ninewa told the Guardian
that she believed that up to 75% of the orphans from the city were the children
of insurgents. She claimed there were 600 IS orphans in Hamam al-Alil camp
alone. The Guardian talked with a boy who was found in a tunnel in Mosul with
several dead militants. His dad was a fighter who disappeared during the
combat. The child himself fought as a sniper for the organization. Belkis Wille
from Human Rights Watch said one big problem was children were treated as
adults by the Iraqi courts, and that there were no rehabilitation programs for
them because they would likely get life in prison if prosecuted so why think
about their future. What to do with these children is another unknown factor in
the rebuilding of the city and Ninewa in general. As of now, the trend is to
punish them simply for being associated with the Islamic State even if they
themselves never did anything wrong.
Mosul continues to rebuild. Schools
in the east re-opened several weeks ago, and now that is happening in the west.
83 schools with 58,800 students were back at work in that half of the city.
They received support from the United Nations. In the east, there are already
336 schools operating with 288,500 pupils. The schools in the west lack
electricity and supplies, and are overcrowded as families attempt to enroll
their children. Teachers are also not being paid. Getting the education system
back up and running is a very important step for the city. Since 2014 many
children did not attend the IS run schools so are far behind their peers in the
rest of the country. They also bring a sense of community in the areas where
the schools are open.
Another step in the reconstruction process is putting all
the historical sites in Mosul back together. A geologist Faisal Jeber is attempting
to do that. His first project is the Prophet Jonah site in the east. IS not
only blew part of it up, but excavated the area looking for artifacts to sell.
Some clerics have claimed the site for a new mosque so Jeber has some
competition. Mosul was full of ancient history almost all of which was damaged
or destroyed in the fighting. They are likely not a priority for the government
compared to everything else that needs to be taken care of. That leads
individuals like Jeber to try to fix them. A huge task, but once again shows
the resiliency of the local residents.
SOURCES
Bas News, “Iraqi
Officers Involved in Smuggling IS Leaders Under Investigation,” 7/26/17
- “Three IS Fighters
Found Dead in Mosul,” 7/26/17
Chulov, Martin,
“Children of Isis fighters face threat of Mosul revenge attacks,” Guardian,
7/26/17
Al Ghad Press, “The
arrest of two Daash members and the discovery of ten bodies of the group in
Mosul,” 7/26/17
- “Members Of Daash
joining tribal crowd in Mosul,” 7/26/17
MacSwan, Angus,
“Booby-traps plague north Iraq as Islamic State targets returning civilians,”
Reuters, 7/26/17
Middle East Eye,
“Mosul’s bloodbath: ‘We killed everyone – IS, men, women and children,’”
7/26/17
NRT, “Displaced Iraqi Families Living In Limbo In Mosul
Camp,” 7/26/17
Reuters, “Iraq:
After Islamic State, Mosul rebuilds monuments, mosques and society” 7/26/17
Rudaw, “Tank commanders await Abadi’s orders to commence Tal
Afar ops,” 7/26/17
Their World, “60,000 children back at school in west Mosul
but others are traumatized and hiding,” 7/25/17
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