Video of continued fighting in Old City. Gunshots, tank
fire, helicopters overhead shooting at Old City district West Mosul from across
Tigris River. (Nabih Bulos)
Heavy fighting continued in the Old City district of west
Mosul five days after the city was declared liberated. The Iraqi forces (ISF)
have banned reporters in the area, and not released much about what is going on
so the Iraqi press has been largely silent on the continuation of combat. Reinforcements
were sent in with three units from the Rapid Reaction forces joining the Golden
Division to clear out the last Islamic State elements who were said to be
hiding in tunnels in the district. Nabih Bulos from the Los Angeles Times went
to the eastern side of the Tigris River across from the Old City and filmed an
Abrams tank and helicopters firing into the district. Constant gunfire could be
heard as well. The ISF claims they are just mopping up the last remnants of the
insurgents, but the amount of firepower deployed would point to things being
more serious. Five
times the ISF told Prime Minister Haidar Abadi that the city was freed when
it wasn’t. Abadi showed up in the city to give his victory speech when he was
informed that the city was not cleared yet. He waited a day, and then gave his
address, but things were not settled yet. Fighting will likely continue for
several more days with most of the country none to the wise.
Military parade in Baghdad’s
Green Zone celebrating victory in Mosul (Kurdistan 24)
To add to that point, Baghdad held a victory parade
in the Green Zone. Premier Abadi presided over an array of tanks and soldiers
marching in front of his stand. For most of Iraq this is a time of celebration
even though it is premature.
In the rest of Mosul there were clearing operations going
on. Five IS were killed
trying to cross the Tigris River and escape the Old City by the Fourth Bridge.
The Joint Operations Command claimed that
250 IS members have been arrested in west Mosul. If fighting were truly over in
the city these would be the types of duties the ISF would be doing with occasional
flare up with IS elements that didn’t want to surrender, not using tanks and
helicopters.
Iraqi propaganda was still going. General Abdul Amir Rashid
Yarallah from the Ninewa Operations Command announced
that 10,000 IS fighters were killed in west Mosul. When the attack on the
western side of the city began several Iraqi generals
and the U.S. Coalition
seemed to agree that there were around 2,000 IS elements left. This is another
example of the Iraqi death inflation that has been chronic over the last three
years. When a battle begins the ISF are always claiming there are only a few
insurgents left, but then when things are over the original figures are usually
amplified two to five times higher. This is all part of the government’s
victory narrative that constantly demands the highest casualty figures and the
biggest advances being made each day of a major campaign.
IS picture with captured T55 tank in Imam al-Gharbi which the
insurgents have held for 10 days now against the Iraqi forces (via Pawel
Wojcik)
For the tenth day, the Iraqi forces were attempting to
re-capture Imam al-Gharbi in the Qayara district southeast of Mosul. Three days
ago, the ISF launched an operation to re-take the town, but it has been slow
going. July 15 was the first time that Coalition air strikes were reported.
Originally, the Iraqis claimed that only around 150 militants seized the town
in a broad attack across five villages. The amount of time that they have held
out against the ISF probably means a lot more fighters were involved. This is
turning into a major battle, but the Iraqis are trying to play it down as they
would rather talk about the liberation of Mosul instead.
The Washington
Post wrote about the people waiting to recover the bodies of their loved
ones in Mosul. Civil Defense teams are responsible for clearing the rubble and
retrieving bodies. Sometimes they are too damaged to be identified, but other
times the families know where their relatives died, and are waiting for them to
be dug up. This is another hardship the people of the city must suffer through.
More stories of vigilante justice against IS suspects were
emerging. The latest came from the Guardian.
Bodies have been washing up along the shore of the Tigris River in Qayara
southeast of Mosul. Many were bound and blindfolded. They started showing up
several months ago, but have recently increased. Back in April 2017 Human
Rights Watch (HRW) first reported on these incidents. The cadavers probably do
not come from Mosul because the ISF set up a barricade in the river to stop IS
escapes or infiltrations to the city. One soldier showed the Guardian a video
claiming to be him and his friends killing an IS member. The Telegraph
had a similar story of executions going on inside Mosul. As the campaign has
wound down there are more and more of these reports. HRW believed that as
victory drew closer the Iraqi forces became more brazen and more public about
their abuses. At first, there were bodies showing up. Now there are videos of
executions by the ISF. The government does absolutely nothing about these
reports. Sometimes it claims it will investigate. Other times a committee might
be formed, but the reality is that the ISF can act with impunity because there
is no real rule of law. The only time Iraqis seem to care about these cases is
when the western press reports them. Otherwise they are usually applauded on
social media as revenge against IS that caused such trauma in the nation.
In the Ninewa Plains two rival militias got into a shootout.
In Hamdaniya,
the Babylon Brigades engaged in a firefight with the Ninewa Plains Protection
Units over the former stealing weapons and supplies from the latter. When the
Iraqis freed the plains, they didn’t have the forces to hold it. That has led
to a multiplicity of militias to be formed by competing parties to control the
area. The Babylon
Brigades are a Hashd unit made up of Shabaks and Shiite Arabs brought by
the Badr Organization to Ninewa. The Ninewa Plains Protection Units on the
other hand are a Christian organization that is connected to the Hashd, but
independent of their command structure. It has gotten some assistance from the
U.S. The confrontation between the two is a result of the tensions and
competition between all the different groups that operate in the province. With
Baghdad largely absent these groups can do what they want, and there is no one
to mediate or punish anyone when violence breaks out.
Comparison Mosul hospital and
hotel in Shifa neighborhood west Mosul Nov 2015 (top) vs Jul 2017 (botom) (Washington Post)
Besides security reconstruction will be another major issue
in the governorate. The U.S. State Department estimated
that it could take up to a decade to clear all the explosives from Mosul at a
cost of around $200 million. The United Nations believes that 10,000 buildings,
8,5000 of which are homes, and 100 kilometers of roads in Mosul need repair
based upon satellite analysis. That doesn’t even include all the damage as some
cannot be picked up from overheard observation. The government has Civil
Defense forces that are clearing the rubble from streets, and work units to
fill in potholes. The rest however, needs to be contracted out, and will come
on top of the estimated $1 billion necessary to restore services like water,
electricity, sewage, and schools. Baghdad doesn't have the funds for this now,
and is hoping that loans, aid and private investment will cover the costs, but
Iraq has received very little so far, so this reconstruction may drag out for
years over the lack of funds.
With most of the fighting over in Mosul there are still
people fleeing their homes in Ninewa. Most of the displaced (IDPs) now arriving
at Hamam al-Alil the main screening center are coming from Hawija in Kirkuk,
one of the last areas in the country under IS control. No one is coming out of
Mosul anymore, because for the last few days they have gone directly to east
Mosul via a pontoon bridge over the Tigris River. Agence
France Presse talked with IDPs in a displaced camp who said they had
nothing to go back to because their homes had been destroyed. The U.N. and the
Norwegian Refugee Council warned that many families will stay in IDP camps for
months because they have no domiciles and there are no services in west Mosul.
Another important factor is that the IS attacks have scared many people from
going back because they fear for their safety. 200,000 people have returned to
the city so far, but that is almost all to the east, which was not as heavily
damaged and where life is largely back to normal with various shortages. Many
from the west are now staying there as well. The western section however has
had much more extensive damage leaving many people without a place to stay. Add
to that the fact that rents are skyrocketing in the city due to demand, and the
displacement crisis is likely to last for quite some time.
SOURCES
Agence France Presse, “Return to Mosul a distant dream for many
displaced,” 7/15/17
AIN, “URGENT: We
killed 10,000 terrorists in the battles of the right coast,” 7/15/17
Daragahi, Borzou,
“This Is What It’s Like Inside Liberated Mosul,” Buzz Feed, 7/15/17
Bulos, Nabih, “’I
watched her die’: The last push for Mosul, from those who lived through the
ferocious battle,” Los Angeles Times, 7/15/17
Dolamari, Mewan,
“PHOTOS: Iraqis celebrate Mosul victory with military parade,” Kurdistan 24,
7/15/17
Hawramy, Fazel,
“Stream of floating bodies near Mosul raises fears of reprisals by Iraqi
militias,” Guardian, 7/15/17
Hussein, Sara and
Mojon, Jean-Marc, “Iraq forces poised for Mosul airport assault,” Agence France
Presse, 2/22/17
Iraq Newspaper,
“Iraqi Newspaper Reporter: Fierce Battles Between Armed Christian Factions In
The Ninewa Plain,” 7/15/17
Knights, Michael and
Kailan, Yousif, “Confidence- and Security-Building Mesures in the Nineveh
Plains,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy,” 7/14/17
Loveluck, Louisa,
“After Islamic State defeat, families return to Mosul to collect bodies of
loved ones,” Washington Post, 7/15/17
Al Mada, “False
field data postponed the declaration of liberation of Mosul 3 times,” 7/11/17
Mostafa, Nehal,
“Eighteen IS militants killed in U.S.-led coalition airstrike, south of Mosul,”
Iraqi News, 7/15/17
Neuhof, Florian,
“’They no longer feel the need to hide their actions’: Iraqi forces accused of
summary executions in Mosul,” Telegraph, 7/15/17
Robinson, A.C., “Who is responsible for the civilian cost of
the battle for Mosul?” Rudaw, 7/15/17
Robson, Seth, “Car
bombs, civilians will complicate fight to free western Mosul,” Stars and
Stripes, 2/4/17
Rojkan, Mira, “More
Than 250 IS Members Arrested in West Mosul,” Bas News, 7/15/17
Rudaw, “LIVE
UPDATES: Abadi announces start of military campaign for west Mosul,” 2/19/17
Shafaaq News,
“Continued fighting in the Old Mosul and progress in Imam al-Gharbi,” 7/15/17
- “Five dead while trying to cross the Tigris in Mosul,” 7/15/17
- “Military
reinforcements to Mosul to clear the old city pockets of Daesh,” 7/15/17
UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR Flash Update – 14 July 2017,” 7/14/17
Xinhua, “Iraq celebrates victory over IS militants with
military parade in Baghdad,” 7/15/17
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