With the Mosul battle over the Iraqi forces (ISF) are
preparing to attack Tal Afar in western Ninewa. Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi
has talked about the upcoming operation almost every day now. The army, police,
Hashd and tribal Hashd will all be involved.
The ISF are staging in Badush. The Islamic State launched
two suicide bombers at that town, which were killed. That might have been a
pre-emptive assault by the insurgents. Tal Afar is likely to follow the same
plan as Mosul, meaning that the Hashd will have perimeter duties, while the
army and police will enter the town. There has been some talk of having the Al
Abbas Division being allowed to go into the village as well. It is loyal to
Najaf and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and has worked closely with the army and
police before.
U.S. forces and IS were both active south of Mosul. There
was a report
that a U.S. helicopter landed troops in the town of Mughar and killed three IS
members. There was no information about whether this was done by American
forces or Iraqis. The insurgents also destroyed
a cemetery in the Qayara district. The U.S. operation must have been aimed at a
high value target, otherwise the Iraqis could have done it themselves. On the
other hand, the militants have various cells operating throughout the freed
areas of the province. They do not pose a serious security threat as of now.
The Ninewa Health Directorate gave its casualty count
for the Mosul operation. According to the provincial health chief 800 civilians
died, 13,000 were injured, and 5,000 ISF were wounded. That was a partial total
as the Forensic Department has not re-opened. For much of the start of the
campaign casualties were being sent to hospitals in Irbil. It is unclear
whether those figures were included in the Health Directorate’s numbers.
There were more political recriminations about the fall of
Mosul. Former Ninewa Governor Atheel Nujafi blamed
Baghdad for everything. According to him, the central government gave the city
to the Islamic State in 2014, allowed the group to carry out massacres, and
then destroyed it while liberating it. This was just the latest in several
accusations by politicians about the 2014 events. As more time passes, more
will throw in their version of events, and attack their opponents at the same
time. This also comes as elections are planned for next year. What will not
come out of this will be anyone being held responsible.
SOURCES
Baghdad Post, “Iraq
gov’t devastated Mosul after capitulating to ISIS: Official,” 7/29/17
- “Over 18,000
injured, 800 killed since beginning of Mosul operations,” 7/29/17
Bennis, Phyllis,
“Here’s What US ‘Liberation’ Looks Like: The Devastation of Mosul,” The Wire,
7/29/17
Al Ghad Press, “The
Minister of Interior orders the opening of all ministry departments in Mosul,”
7/29/17
- “Sleeper cells
launch attack on cemetery south of Mosul,” 7/29/17
NINA, "Security Forces Kill 2 Suicide Bombers Northwest
Of Mosul," 7/28/17
Shafaaq News, “US forces carry out an air raid that kills Daash
infiltrators south of Mosul,” 7/29/17
Xinhua, “Iraqi PM
declares plan to liberate Tal Afar from IS militants,” 7/29/17
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