The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have banned almost all
reporters from west Mosul, so there was only one story from the city. A crew
from France
24 travelled with a Golden Division unit to the Tanak neighborhood on the
western edge of Mosul to look for Islamic State elements. An officer went house
to house interviewing families for tips on insurgents. Two young boys were
taken in as a result. In most of the city these are the type of clearing
operations that the ISF is doing. That’s also the reason why the Golden
Division allowed this story, because it goes along with the narrative that
Mosul is now safe and secure. It’s unknown whether there is still fighting
going on in the Old City district because of the media blackout.
The town of Imam al-Gharbi southeast of Mosul was finally freed. After two
weeks of fighting the army, Golden Division, police and local tribal units seized
the town back from the militants. Coalition jets, helicopters, and several
reinforcements were all called in for the operation. The ISF originally tried
to play down the fight claiming that IS members were just trying to escape from
Mosul. The fact that they took the town and held it for so long exposed that
story.
Patrick Cockburn filed a story for the Independent
from Kurdistan talking with former Foreign and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari
who claimed 40,000 civilians died in the Mosul battle. Zebari criticized the
Federal Police for its indiscriminate shelling of the western side of the city.
He also charged the ISF with charging bribes to get through checkpoints or to
return to homes. He singled out the army’s 9th and 16th
Divisions and tribal Hashd units as being the worst offenders. Musings On Iraq
just calculated
13,106 civilian fatalities in the city. There were many air strikes that were
not included in that count, and there were probably hundreds of people killed
in the shelling and fighting that were never reported. Still, even if all those
were added, it is hard to believe that four times as many people were killed. The
real figure is likely never to be known since the government refuses to release
casualty numbers.
There was more news on extra judicial killings going on in
Ninewa. The Associated
Press talked with four Iraqi officers who all said their men had killed
captured IS suspects. One officer said that the ISF were regularly murdering
detainees at Hamam al-Alil the main screening center for displaced in Ninewa. Human
Rights Watch (HRW) talked with several international observers and Iraqis who
witnessed or heard about executions in west Mosul in July. One shopkeeper was
taken to a building where there were 17 corpses, and was told soldiers from the
16th Division executed them. HRW complained that the Iraqi
government has done nothing about these incidents. Prime Minister Haider Abadi
spoke on the matter in a speech yesterday. The premier said there had been some
violations but they were individual not systematic acts. He claimed the
government would punish anyone caught, but then he said some of the Iraqi
forces were working with the Islamic State to defame the government and its
forces. Various crimes and abuses have occurred since the war started in 2014
and Baghdad has never held anyone accountable. Abadi has often criticized human
rights organizations for investigating the matters. The fact is, torture and
abuse are institutionalized within the ISF and routinely occurs in all cases
terrorist or otherwise and are accepted by the judiciary. Extra judicial
killings are posted on Facebook and social media routinely and applauded by the
public. The Islamic State brought a level of brutality to Iraq that shocked the
country and world. Now Iraqis are returning the favor in kind.
Voice
of America talked with a man who ran an internet shop in Mosul during the
Islamic State occupation. He only had about a hundred customers, but he felt it
important to keep people connected with the outside world. Residents would use
their phones to check on line and then delete their information to hide it from
the militants. He was one of a few who provided this important service. At the
same time, he was discovered, interrogated and whipped over 60 times by IS as a
result. These small forms of resistance were important to keep people’s spirits
up during the three years the Islamic State ran the city.
After security is established the next big step for Mosul
will be rebuilding. Lise Grande from the United Nations told the Fiscal
Times that the east side of the city was already doing well. There were
schools and businesses open, almost all the residents were back, and there were
local contractors working to restore services, which were also employing
people. West Mosul was completely different. There, 38 of the 54 residential
areas were heavily to moderately damaged. That means there is far more to be
done there than the east. The U.N.’s initial prediction was that it would cost
$470 million to restore electricity, water, sewage, hospitals, schools and
houses just in the most damaged areas. Another $237 million would be required
for the other parts of the western half. That was double the amount the U.N.
originally estimated, and those figures are likely to continue to rise. The
U.N. has a plan
to put together community groups made up of local leaders, officials, tribes,
etc. They will decide which homes and buildings will get rebuilt, and which
will not. The organization hopes these will also further reconciliation through
dialogue in neighborhoods. The provincial government is going to start
restoring services next week in the west side. The World Bank is also getting
involved in the process and fast tracked projects to rebuild bridges that span
the Tigris River in the middle of the city. The World Bank and foreign donors
is where Iraq is hoping to raise most of the money to rebuild Mosul. They’ve
raised around $300 million so far, and are going to have two conferences to ask
for more. It’s unclear whether it will be able to acquire everything it needs,
which will drag out the rebuilding process.
Another factor that will complicate reconstruction is the
political disorder in the province. The Ninewa council is moving to remove
Governor Nufal Hamadi al-Akub on corruption charges. He was just dismissed
from the ruling coalition, and then questioned about illegal activities. Former
Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi has been raised as a possible replacement.
Ironically, he was removed from office for corruption charges in August 2016. Disagreements
in the governorate will complicate planning for putting Mosul and Ninewa back
together.
IRIN
followed a mobile judge working in Ninewa. Judge Khalid al-Shimari is one of
two magistrates in his section of the province that is travelling to
displacement camps to help people with marriages, births, and most importantly
getting new government documents that they lost. Without those papers people
can’t get any aid from the authorities like food rations, or get through
checkpoints. Judge Khalid said the judicial situation in the governorate was a
“disaster” because the courts were completely overwhelmed with cases.
The Displacement Ministry is trying to encourage
the displaced (IDPs) to return to their homes. It is giving seminars at IDP
camps to get people to move back. The U.N. interviewed people after the
presentation. Some said that they had nothing to go back to because their homes
were destroyed, they had no money left, and didn’t feel like they would move
until services were back, and the economy was running again. Another issue the
U.N. raised was that the Displacement Ministry has no programs for people who
go back. It also has not provided the monthly payments it’s supposed to provide
IDPs probably because of the government’s budget problems.
Finally, the IDP camp set up in Bartella for IS families that
were kicked out of other areas of Ninewa was closed after just a week
operating. There were 900 families there at its peak. They were either sent to
other camps or to east Mosul. To show how arbitrary these expulsions were 80
orphan children were sent to Bartella. They are now with foster families. Ninewa
is just one of many provinces that is forcing relatives of IS members out. The
provincial government opened the Bartella camp to take care of them, but it had
no services, probably for a lack of funds. Now these families have moved on,
which begs the question of why they were forced out to begin with. More
importantly this practice is still on going, and what will happen to these
families in the future is completely up in the air. PM Abadi told officials to
stop this practice, but no one paid attention, and now he denies that it is
happening. Again, IS has damaged Iraqi society so much that families that might
have done nothing are being punished because of the desire for retribution.
SOURCES
Baghdad Post, “Forces’ corruption allows ISIS terrorists to
freely reign in Iraq,” 7/19/17
- “Former defense
minister tapped for Nineveh governorship,” 7/19/17
- “Reconstruction of
Mosul’s right bank to start next week – Cabinet,” 7/19/17
Cockburn, Patrick,
“The massacre of Mosul: 40,000 feared dead in battle to take back city from
Isis as scale of civilian casualties revealed,” Independent, 7/19/17
France 24,
“Exclusive: Iraqi forces hunt for IS group sleeper cells in Mosul,” 7/19/17
George, Susannah,
“Iraqi officer seeks vengeance in Mosul, where killings mount,” Associated
Press, 7/19/17
Al Ghad Press,
“joint forces announce the liberation of Imam al-Gharbi village,” 7/19/17
Human Rights Watch,
“Iraq: Execution Site Near Mosul’s Old City,” 7/19/17
Huson, Eva, “Mobil
magistrates are Iraq’s new frontline fighters,” IRIN, 7/18/17
Islamic Relief, “Huge aid effort underway to support returns
in Mosul,” 7/19/17
MacSwan, Angus, “In
camps and ruins, Mosul civilians’ ordeal is far from over,” Reuters, 7/19/17
Murdock, Heather,
“Staying Online in Dangerous Times,” Voice of America, 7/19/17
Rojkan, Mira, “IS Vicious Attacks Continue Targeting Mosul
Civilians,” Bas News, 7/19/17
Salahaddein, Sinan,
“Iraqi PM: Rights violations in Mosul were ‘individual acts,’” Associated
Press, 7/19/17
Scotti, Ciro, “The
Billion-Dollar Job of Raising Mosul From the Rubble,” Fiscal Times, 7/19/17
Shafaaq News,
“Restored control of 80% of Imam al-Gharbi,” 7/19/17
Simmons, Ann,
“Rebuilding Mosul: The daunting mission to bring the demolished city back from
the dead,” Los Angeles Times, 7/19/17
Sotaliraq, “Member
of the Ninewa Council: Akub faction of the National Renaissance Coalition,”
7/14/17
UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR Flash Update – 19 July 2017,” 7/19/17
Verini, James, “The
Living and the Dead,” New York Times, 7/19/17
6 comments:
250 families still besieged in Mosul’s Old City: Army officer
http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/250-families-still-besieged-mosuls-old-city-army-officer/
Again, why isn't this post or the next titled "Mosul Campaign Day 150", Mr.Wing?
Are you pushing a fake narrative that the coalition bombing is responsible for thousands of civilian deaths? You claim 4,100 civilians killed due to coalition bombing. How many of them have been ISIS combatants and helpers? Can you clarify that? What about the 13,100 civilians killed by the ISF. How many of them were ISIS combatants and helpers?
Anonymous, the Iraqi govt has officially declared Mosul freed even though there's still fighting. I've been writing about this contradiction everyday. The text should matter more than the title.
Sacred Baloney, I don't record IS deaths and are not included in my counts. Could there be some that get reported as civilians, sure, but I think that would be a small minority. The ISF are all too happy to announce all the militants they kill.
Huh? So when a coalition bomb which has been carefully targeting a building presumably occupied by ISIS and their helpers, and there are 25 casualties, how do you know how many are ISIS and how many are civilians? Can you explain to us who decides this division? Is it Airwars which has been accused of spreading fake news, and is run by west-hating ideologues?
It's pretty easy to tell civilian from IS dead. They're the ones with beards and the guns. And Airwars lists all of its sources for each report. Finally it wasn't the only source for air strike casualties. From your comment it appears you've got a hang up about Airwars and have never actually looked at their site. "I don't read it but its' wrong" is not a good argument.
Post a Comment