Mosul Campaign Day 117, Feb 10, 2017

For weeks now Iraqi officials have been pushing the line that the Islamic State is a defeated force. Prime Minister Haider Abadi was the latest to add to the fray when he told a meeting of Iraq’s governors that the majority of IS’s foreign fighters had left Mosul. This follows the government’s release of captured IS documents that showed foreign members trying to get out of fighting in Ninewa. The papers were first reported in the Iraqi press, and then got wider coverage when they were featured in the Washington Post. The reports just came from one battalion however.

Mosul Campaign Day 116, Feb 9, 2017

Despite there being no more combat operations in Mosul for over two weeks now there is still violence in east Mosul. Two car bombs were discovered and destroyed in two separate neighborhoods. Those were probably the work of Islamic State sleeper cells who are active in the city. The 9^th and 16^th Divisions ran into an IS cell in Kuba, killing four who were all wearing suicide belts. Rockets, mortars and drone strikes by IS hit three areas killing 11 and wounding another 15. The shelling has gotten so bad that clean up operations to get rubble, etc. off the streets have been halted. Authorities had already imposed a curfew on northeastern sections of the city where the IS strikes have been the heaviest. This points to the situation getting worse, highlighted by the growing casualty figures.

Mosul Campaign Day 115, Feb 8, 2017

The army chief of staff General Osman al-Ghani said that the attack on west Mosul would start soon. He encouraged people to return to the city and for the government to assist those still displaced. The government is continuing to push its propaganda line that the Islamic State is defeated and that taking west Mosul will be easier than east Mosul as a result.

Mosul Campaign Day 114, Feb 7, 2017

The World Health Organization provided new numbers of casualties from the Mosul campaign. From January 8-31 there were 108 trauma cases at three hospitals in Irbil and Bartella. There were another 390 trauma patients at those facilities. During this time period the Iraqi Forces (ISF) were finishing the liberation of east Mosul with the last neighborhood taken on January 23. The figures amplify the fact that civilians have suffered the most from the fighting. 

Mosul Campaign Day 113, Feb 6, 2017

Events in Mosul took two strange turns. First, in north Mosul the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) left out a number of Islamic State corpses by a main road. Hunting down IS sleeper cells and members that slipped into the general population is a major concern of the government. The bodies were supposed to deter Islamic State members in the district by warning them about what will happen to them. More importantly, in the east side some soldiers from the Golden Division stopped a unit from the National Security Service (NSS) from searching some houses in Nur citing sectarian abuses. This led to an argument and gunfire leading to one NSS officer being killed and one wounded. There have been some reports of looting and harassing of civilians in east Mosul by the ISF. While the Golden Division is the country’s premier force, not all the ISF are as professional. That probably explained the unfortunate clash that happened in Nur.

Mosul Campaign Day 112, Feb 5, 2017

 

There was news from within and without Mosul. Shafaaq News reported on the food and fuel shortages in west Mosul. Officials are worried of a humanitarian crisis.

The Iraqi forces (ISF) were shelling west Mosul and the Islamic State fired mortars onto two neighborhoods in the east. There were no casualties reported, but countless people have been killed and wounded as a result of the constant artillery, mortar and rocket fire.

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was mentioned in new report “Counter Information and Guidance Iraq: Security situation in Baghdad the south and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI)” by the UK Home Office.