Musings On Iraq In The News

I wrote an opinion piece “Winning the war, losing the peace in Mosul’s east” for NRT.

Mosul Campaign Day 138-39, Mar 3-4, 2017

Wadi Hajar is the newest neighborhood freed by the Iraqi forces (Institute for the Study of War)

The Iraqi forces were still fighting over the initial areas of southeast Mosul. After several days of tough fighting the Golden Division finally freed the Wadi Hajar neighborhood on March 3 directly north of the Ghazlani Camp. The unit was then moving east towards the Tigris River to connect with the police units there. Dawas was still contested after it was unofficially declared liberated on February 28, and so was Mansour. On March 4 operations had to be halted because of bad weather and rain. The Islamic State took advantage of the poor conditions to launch a series of counterattacks. The insurgents are also using more suicide bombers. One army officer said there were at least 10 per day. Like east Mosul the going has been hard. Despite all the Iraqi propaganda that IS is a defeated force it is putting up a stiff defense. The question as always is how long can it sustain it before it breaks.

The Battle For West Mosul Interview With BBC’s Quentin Sommerville

On February 19 the campaign to retake Mosul began anew. The Iraqi forces attacked across three fronts with the Federal Police and Emergency Response Division (ERD) following the Tigris River up to Mosul Airport and then into south Mosul. The BBC’s Quentin Sommervile was embedded with the RRD during its initial assault on the city.

Mosul Campaign Day 137, Mar 2, 2017

Golden Division soldiers waiting in an alley west Mosul (Reuters)

March 2 was another day of hard fighting in south Mosul. The Islamic State took advantage of a rainstorm to attack the Golden Division. Some fighters were hiding amongst displaced families to approach the frontlines before revealing themselves. The Golden Division is currently trying to secure the Wadi Hajar neighborhood. Reporting has been very inconsistent on how far they’ve gotten. On February 28 the district was unofficially declared freed, then said to be 80% under control on March 1, and then just 70% on March 3. Whatever the figure is, the neighborhood is still hotly contested.

4,290 Dead And Wounded In Iraq In February 2017

With the Mosul campaign back underway casualties remained very high in Iraq. There were a total of 1,832 deaths and 2,458 wounded recorded during the month based upon daily research into over 40 media outlets, mostly Iraqi. An American General added that 500 members of the Iraqi forces (ISF) were killed and 5,000 wounded in the fight for east Mosul. When compared to previous reports that would add an additional 399 dead and 1,634 injured to the total. In January the figures were higher as the battle for east Mosul was still underway with 1,871 killed and 4,302 injured.

Mosul Campaign Day 136, Mar 1, 2017

March 1 was another day of consolidation and hard fighting in southern Mosul. An apartment complex in Mamun was freed by the Golden Division after the district was declared liberated on February 23 and 26. That same unit was still trying to secure Wadi Hajar, Mansour and Shuhada. Wadi Hajar was unofficially said to be cleared yesterday. The Iraqi engineers completed the pontoon bridge across the Tigris in southern Mosul. The Islamic State also carried out a surprise attack on Hawi al-Josaq. Its fighters had shaved their beards and were dressed in army uniforms catching the Iraqi forces (ISF) by surprise. The Iraqi forces (ISF) have only entered the southern tip of the city, but as the reports show the districts they are in remain hotly contested.

Mosul Campaign Day 135, Feb 28, 2017

The Iraqi Forces (ISF) were mostly consolidating their hold on the areas they took in west Mosul, while two more advances were announced, but not corroborated officially. First, on February 27 a large attack by the Islamic State was turned back at the Ghazlani Base that was freed on February 24. Apparently not all of the camp had been taken either as the Federal Police cleared a Mosque there. On February 28 Iraqi officers claimed Wadi Hajar and Dawas were liberated. Those have not been made official yet however. Otherwise the ISF were going through Hawi al-Josaq and Mamun looking for IEDs and any left behind IS fighters. Engineers started work on constructing a pontoon bridge across the Tigris River where the Fourth Bridge used to stand before the U.S. Coalition bombed it. The bridge is suppose to allow more forces to flow into west Mosul as well as supplies.