Mosul update

[tigergorzow]

VIDEO: Captured ISIS terrorist shown mercy, given water by Iraqi Shi’ite militia (Video in link)

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

29/03/2017

2

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:50 P.M.) – Iraqi Shi’ite militia fighters show mercy with an ISIS terrorist they pulled out of his hiding hole.

A wounded ISIS terrorirst is pulled by Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) fighters from the small tunnel where he took refuge.

Although he was fearful of being killed, PMU fighters showed mercy and was given water from his captors.

He was specifically captured by the Firqat al Imam Ali Al-Qitalia brigade of the PMU in an area west of Mosul in northern Iraq.

 

 

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-captured-isis-terrorist-shown-mercy-given-water-iraqi-shiite-militia/

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi forces liberate Mosul Stadium amid latest push against ISIL

By

Leith Fadel

-

29/03/2017

 

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:15 A.M.) – The Iraqi Armed Forces took contro of more territory in western Mosul, today, after engagng a large Islamic State (ISIL) unit inside the provincial capital’s historical district.

According to local activists, the Iraqi Armed Forces liberated the Mosul Stadium and Qadib l-Ban area of the provincial capita, killing and wounding several Islamic State terrorists in the process of this latest advance.

In addition to this advance, the Iraqi Armed Forces are still pushing inside the Old Mosul and Yarmouk districts, where ISIL is attempting to make their last major stand.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraqi-forces-liberate-mosul-stadium-amid-latest-push-isil/

[tigergorzow]

Video captured of ISIS using a child as a human shield in Mosul (Video in link)

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

30/03/2017

 

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:03 A.M.) – An Iraqi drone has captured the moment that an ISIS terrorist is using a child as a human shield.

The dramatic footage captured was in western Mosul and shows the terrorist using the child to cross a road in the middle of a battle.

More than 4,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in western Mosul since February, with 1,000 by US airstrikes in the month of March alone.

Most civilians killed were because ISIS used them as human shields.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-captured-of-isis-using-a-child-as-a-human-shield-in-mosul/

 

 

[tigergorzow]

Islamic State’s “health minister” killed in Mosul’s Old City: police

 

by Mohamed Mostafa Mar 29, 2017, 2:32 pm

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Iraqi police forces in Mosul (Reuters)

 

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Federal Police command said Wednesday its forces killed the so-called “health minister” of the Islamic State in central Mosul’s Old City district, as operations proceed to clear the area from militants.

The service’s chief, Shaker Jawdat, said police managed today to shoot dead the Islamic State’s health minister, Saad Abu Shoeib, along with an indefinite number of companions, when they targeted their vehicle near al-Jumohouri Hospital in the Old City.

 

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Bab al-Jadid neighborhood in the Old City, Mosul

Jawdat said earlier on Wednesday that police forces had recaptured 330 square kilometers of western Mosul since security operations launched in February to retake the region from Islamic State militants.

The service’s chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said in a statement that his forces took over 62 targets assigned in western Mosul since the start of the security offensive. The troops killed hundreds of militants and destroyed 286 booby-trapped vehicles belonging to the group.

Police forces evacuated 25.000 refugees from areas it had recaptured, Jawdat stated.

Iraqi forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting to retake the city that fell to Islamic State extremists in 2014.
Police and supporting forces said recently they became closer to the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir mosque, where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria. They had earlier recaptured the city’s airport and biggest military base besides several other districts since the launch of the campaign. The army’s leadership said recently government troops became in control over 50 percent of the region.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/islamic-states-health-minister-killed-mosuls-old-city-police/

[tigergorzow]

Airstrike injures IS judge, kills son, two guards in western Mosul

 

by Nehal Mustafa Mar 29, 2017, 3:22 pm

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Airstrike by the US-led international coalition aircraft.

 

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) An Islamic State member heading the group’s ‘grievances court’ in the strategic IS stronghold of Tal Afar town was injured, while his son and two of his guards were killed in an airstrike launched in western Mosul, a local source from Nineveh province said.

Speaking to Alsumaria News on Wednesday, the source said “a rest house of the Islamic State, located at the outskirts of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, was hit by an airstrike, leaving its official in charge of the ‘grievances court’ called Abu Hassan, Iraqi national, wounded. His son and two guards were killed.”

 

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Tal Afar, west of Mosul (google maps).

Abu Hassan, according to the source, who preferred anonymity, used to work at the ‘grievances court’ in Mosul before being transferred to Tal Afar few months earlier.

Iraqi troops as well as the U.S.-led coalition troops resume their strikes against IS-held sites in Mosul.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s last stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul and about half of the west were recaptured from IS since October, when a US-backed offensive was launched. A new offensive started in February to retake the west. The government troops have recently pushed deeper into the Old City, a densely-populated and -structured area which military officials view as central to the desired victory over IS militants.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians who the commanders believe are used as human shields by IS members.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/airstrike-injures-member-kills-son-two-guards-western-mosul/

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Death to IS’ graffiti covers alleys walls in eastern Sharqat

 

by Loaa Adel Mar 29, 2017, 3:47 pm

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‘Death to IS’ graffiti.

 

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Salahuddin Province revealed that anonymous persons drew a graffiti that reads “death to IS” on the walls of alleys in eastern Sharqat, driving the Islamic State group to raise the state of alert, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.

The source said that unidentified men drew graffiti, threatening the Islamic State group, on the walls of some alleys in Sharqat district, north of Salahuddin, while added that one of the graffiti was drawn on the gate of an IS militant’s house.

The graffiti, which was drawn in black and includes phrases such as “death to the Islamic State” pushed the terrorist group to raise the state of alert, the source explained.

Lately, Iraqi people, especially in Mosul and Salahuddin, resorted to graffiti to show hostility against the Islamic State group.

Noteworthy, Islamic State group is still controlling the eastern side of al-Sharqat District, which considers one of the important strongholds of the group.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/death-graffiti-covers-alleys-walls-eastern-sharqat/

[tigergorzow]

Security troops kill 22 IS militants, free Ras al-Jadda, western Mosul

 

by Nehal Mustafa Mar 29, 2017, 4:45 pm

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Federal police carry their weapons during a battle against Islamic State militants, at the entrance to the city of Dawasa in Mosul, Iraq, March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani – RTS11ISC

 

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Twenty-two Islamic State militants, including suicide bombers, were killed during an operation carried out to drive IS fighters out of Ras al-Jadda neighborhood, west of Mosul, a source from the Federal Police said on Wednesday.

“Twenty two IS members, including suicide bombers and snipers, were killed during an operation to liberate Ras al-Jadda neighborhood, western Mosul,” Colonel Zaher Hussein told BasNews.

Troops were able to gain control on the region after armed confrontations with the group.

In related news, an informed source from Nineveh police said IS militants targeted the freed areas in the south of Mosul using several missiles.

“Seven civilians were killed, 11 others were injured in a missile attack by IS against Okaidat, Bab al-Jadid and Bab Laksh, located south of Mosul,” Major Adel Khalil told the website.

Mosul is the Islamic State’s biggest stronghold in Iraq. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. A new offensive started in February to retake the west.

Retaking Mosul could ruin the Islamic State’s self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” declared in 2014 when the group occupied several parts of the country.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/security-troops-kill-22-militants-free-ras-al-jadda-western-mosul/

[tigergorzow]

Nine Iraqi soldiers killed storming western Mosul district

 

by Mohamed Mostafa Mar 29, 2017, 5:21 pm

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Iraqi Federal Police fight in the frontline at Bab al Jadid district as the battle against Islamic State’s fighters continues in the old city of Mosul. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

 

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Nine Iraqi army members, including two officers, were killed while storming a new district in western Mosul to drive out Islamic State militants, a security source said Wednesday.

Anadolu Agency quoted Brig. Gen. Saad al-Sayer, from the army’s Counter-Terrorism Forces, saying the personnel were killed during an invasion of Yarmouk district, west of Mosul. He said troops advanced more than two kilometers inside the district after more than 13 hours of fighting.

Thirty-two IS members were killed in the encounters, according to Sayer. Three suicide attacks were foiled.

 

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Yarmouk district, western Mosul (google maps).

Intense fights are running in al-Tanak neighborhood, south of Mosul, according to Sayer, who said that initial information revealed that Abu Yahia al-Zahrani, a senior field commander for IS, was killed in the battles.

Iraqi forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting to retake the city that fell to Islamic State extremists in 2014. Another offensive was launched in February to retake the western side of the city.

Police and supporting forces said recently they became closer to the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir mosque, where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria. They had earlier recaptured the city’s airport and biggest military base besides several other districts since the launch of the campaign. The army’s leadership said recently government troops became in control over 50 percent of the region.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/nine-iraqi-soldiers-killed-storming-western-mosul-district/

[tigergorzow]

IS Holds Only 7% of Western Mosul: Commander

 

Mira Rojkan

29/03/2017 - 23:13

Iraq

 

SOFIA — The Islamic State (IS) areas of influence in western Mosul are estimate to be only 7% of the entire region, an Iraqi commander said on Wednesday.

The spokesperson of the Joint Operations Command, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul, said on Wednesday that the IS militants are currently witnessing a significant decrease in territorial influence as it is estimated to be only seven percent of the areas in western Mosul.

The military official said in a previous statement earlier this week that the ongoing operations in western Mosul have ended on the military level, and that the Iraqi forces are currently working on eliminating the remaining small numbers of IS militants. 

The Iraqi government launched the operation for liberating the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in October last year. By the beginning of this year, the government forces managed to liberate the entire eastern part of the city and focus on the next phase of the operation, aiming to recapture the remaining western parts of the city.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/339569

 

[tigergorzow]

22 IS Militants Killed in West Mosul: Police

Seven civilians were killed by IS mortar shelling

• 
   

Basnews English

29/03/2017 - 16:21

Iraq

 

 

 

MOSUL — Iraqi troops managed to neutralize 22 Islamic State (IS) militants during an operation to liberate Raas al-Jadda area in west Mosul.

Colonel Zahir Hussein from the Iraqi federal police told BasNews that 22 IS militants, including two suicide bombers and two snipers, were eliminated by the Iraqi security forces during an operation to retake Raas al-Jadda in west Mosul on Wednesday. He stated that the Iraqi forces managed to gain full control of the area.

Meanwhile, the IS militants continue to shell the liberated areas in eastern and southern Mosul. Major Adel Khalil from Nineveh police told BasNews "seven civilians were killed and eleven others wounded by the IS mortar shelling against the areas of al-Ageedat, Bab al-Hadeed and Bab Lakish in southern Mosul."

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/339491

[tigergorzow]

Mosul Crisis: When a father loses his family and country

March 29 2017 10:49 PM

Devastation sweeps Mosul

By Alaa Turki

 

Outside an overflowing displacement camp in northern Mosul, Ibrahim sat cross-legged in the dusty clothes that also serve as a blanket on the cold nights. 

A sea of exhausted and depressed people, mostly women and children, sat around him. All of them have arrived at the overcrowded camp over the past week.

A few weeks ago, Ibrahim was eager to see the Iraqi army storming Mosul's right bank, to end a 33-month occupation by ISIS. Now, his only ambition is to find a grave to bury his entire family. 

Ibrahim, a carpenter from Mosul's Jadedeh neighborhood, lost his wife, five children, aged parents and a 16-year-old brother in the  International Coalition airstrikes on  March 17th. The strike left more than 300 civilians killed. 




The Road to the Displacement Camp

From time to time, new arrivals come with the bodies of their relatives on their shoulders. Some of them put the bodies on carts and drag them.

With his eyes staring into the unknown, the 35-year-old Ibrahim said he did the same thing days ago.
He had to walk barefoot hundreds of kilometers with his mother (the only family member he managed to pull out from under the rubble) on his shoulder. 

It was impossible for him and other traumatized people to go back to pull out the bodies of their loved ones for ISIS snipers were stationed on rooftops.



He said the journey to escape death was not easy at all. “People had to avoid the explosive charges planted by ISIS everywhere. They also drugged their children with sedatives or taped their mouths shut to prevent their cries in order not to be arrested by ISIS,” he said.

People who are caught trying to leave are always shot killed. A number of roadside mass graves were discovered on roads northern Mosul.

The terror group has used civilians as human shields to stop airstrikes.



A Father without a Family

While describing the journey from Mosul to the displacement camp, Ibrahim muttered names, seemingly those of his little children.

Mosul children, who experienced scourge of ISIS, have suffered psychological troubles. Aid workers who helped them in the camp said when they first arrived, they were drawing tanks with ISIS flags.

Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city with a population of five million, was declared a disaster area by the Iraqi government earlier in March.

Up to 600,000 Iraqis are currently caught in the crossfire on the city’s right bank while millions have fled for their lives.  

The city fell to ISIS in June, 2014 after only four days of fighting between the Iraqi forces and the terror group militias. Leaked phone conversations, revealed by Russia Today, indicated the Iraqi forces had withdrawn from the battlefield in ambiguous circumstances.

Ibrahim was forced to remain in Mosul to take care of his aged and semi-paralyzed parents. 
 “We had to stay in Mosul amid ISIS organized campaigns of intimidation, abduction of women, trafficking in human beings and mass executions,” he said.

The Enemy Within

'After the Iraqi forces, backed by the International Coalition airstrikes, completely liberated the left bank of Mosul in January, 2017, we longed for a similar offensive to oust ISIS from the right bank,' he added.

But the ‘We are coming, Nineveh’ military operation was busy besieging the right bank of the city for four months.

The besieged residents endure. Privations such as severe food, water, medicine and fuel shortages. This was compounded by freezing weather.

 The city remained isolated from the outside world. The only path that linked Mosul to Syria, from which all basic goods were imported, was closed amid severe fighting between Shiite militias (IMIS) and ISIS.

 “The prices of food supplies have doubled four times within a short time, I completely ran out of cash, my kids were starving,” Ibrahim said.

A Man without a Country

With the start of the Feb. 19 offensive, the situation became even worse, with residents either caught in crossfire, or forced to walk a perilous exodus. 

The UN refugee agency said the city was experiencing "one of the largest man-made displacement crises of recent times."

Ibrahim does not see any difference between the sufferings of civilians under ISIS and theirs in the refugee camps. Food, water and medicine are scarce.

 

Human rights activists and Iraqi lawmakers have repeatedly voiced concerns over the poor services provided to the displaced people.

Reports said poor hygiene in the camps has led to an outbreak of infectious diseases.
The Iraqi government has vowed to provide more support for the displaced. 

However, Ibrahim does not pay much attention to such vows. “Now, my only dream in life is to find the bodies of the rest of my family to bury them in one grave,” Ibrahim said. 

“Not only have I lost my family, but I also lost myself, my homeland,” he concluded.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8765/Mosul-Crisis-When-a-father-loses-his-family-and-country#section_236

[tigergorzow]

How Iran used its puppets in Mosul massacre to further its influence?

March 28 2017 02:25 PM

Qais Khazali with Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq militants

Mosul massacre has uncovered more devilish schemes for the Iran Militias in Iraq and Syria (IMIS) whose threats have been on the rise since the Iraqi government approved their presence on the Iraqi territories. IMIS played a major role in giving misleading information that led to the Mosul massacre.

 

What really happened?

On Friday the 24^th of March, Random shelling by the US-led Coalition on civilians' homes has left at least 500 casualties in the right bank of Mosul.
 

The shameful incident left the US-led Coalition accused of recklessness and turning a blind eye to the innocent civilians of Mosul.

But, US Central Command, which oversees US military Middle East operations, said the request for the strike came from the Iraqi security forces and struck ISIS militants and equipment, as reported by ABC.
 

Also, on Saturday intelligence sources said Iran's spies within the Joint Operations Command had provided misleading information that led to this tragedy.
 

If the alleged number of people killed is confirmed, this incident could be the highest civilian death toll from a single air strike incident in more than 15 years.
 

How did this happen?
 

On the 9^th of August 2016, the powerful commander of an Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq -whom the US freed after the deaths of four American soldiers kidnapped in 2007- has hinted that his militants could blend in with Iraqi forces to kill Americans on the battlefield in Mosul, as reported by Fox News.
 

Qais al-Khazali, leader of the paramilitary group Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, "brags that he can wear any uniform in the Iraqi military."

This fact means that right now, his men are part of the Iraqi security forces that are being trained and advised by US forces.

Commenting on al-Khazali's role in the Iraqi army, former US military intelligence officer Michael Pregent told Fox News,"All he (in reference to Khazali) has to do is to give the order". "He will return to violence, and he has American blood on his hands."

The militia commander also told Reuters, "The Americans do not trust us because we resisted them during the occupation. There is no prospect (for cooperation)."
 

With leniency of the Baghdad central government –which is a puppet of Iran's regime- with the Shiite militias which is proven by making special laws and budget for the sectarian militias, the infiltration of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq militia into the Iraqi government and its manipulation to frame the US-led Coalition are not surprising.
 

Why did this happen?
 

On 24^th of March Sadrist Movement's leader, Muqtada al-Sadr called for dismantling of Iranian Militias in Iraq and Syria (IMIS) after the liberation of Mosul.
 

Al-Sadr asserted that Saraya al-Salam (affiliated with Sadrist Movement) would be dismantled, noting that IMIS laws will make Iraq fall in the grip of militias.
 

Sadrist Movement's leader also urged Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi to strongly resist IMIS backers' pressures for the sake of Iraq's future.

Shortly after this announcement, Qais Khazali had to move fast to save his militia by covering up the story of dismantling the Iranian backed-militias and in the same time vandalize Mosul's military operations under the guidance of US troops.

Iran's aims through its proxies to oust the US-led Coalition from the operations and the Iraqi Army as well. Khazali's plans are to show US and Iraq army "unaccountable" and "incompetent" to shine the image of his sectarian militias as the only remaining savior of Mosul from the terror of ISIS.
 

Khazali warned Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi against dismantling IMIS militia after the liberation of Mosul from ISIS terrorists.
 

This threat echoes the Iranian outrage after Abadi's statement from Washington that laid the possibility of dismantling IMIS militias.

Khazali also went as far as to attempt to assassinate al-Sadr who calls for dismantle of the electoral commission which will favor IMIS militias participation in the upcoming elections and the total dismantle of the Iranian-backed terrorist militias.
 

It's time to heed the calls of Muqtada al-Sadr and many other politicians and observers to dismantle, oust the sectarian militias from Iraq that will do anything to maintain their existence and threaten the whole region of more wars that will consume more lives and demolish the fragile stability of the Middle East.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8706/How-Iran-used-its-puppets-in-Mosul-massacre-to-further-its-influence

[tigergorzow]

Inside Mosul, a huge blast, then screams, dust and horror -Reuters

March 29 2017 10:38 PM

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Reuters

 

Crouching in his Mosul home, Abu Ayman suddenly felt the ground rock as if struck by an earthquake when a massive explosion tore through his street, filling the room with dust and shattered glass. Then came the screams and cries from next door, Reuters reported on Wednesday. 

His account describes horrific scenes after the blast that may have killed more than 200 people on March 17, as the battle to recapture Iraq's second city from ISIS advances though the cramped and densely populated western districts.

Running outside, Abu Ayman said, he saw several houses on the street flattened and severed limbs scattered in the rubble. Frantic residents scrambled to pull relatives out of the collapsed homes, where they had sheltered from bombardments.

"I ran to my next-door neighbor's house and with others we managed to rescue three people, but at least 27 others in the same house were killed, including women and children of relatives who fled from other districts," he said.


"We pulled some out of rubble, using hammers and shovels to remove debris. We couldn't do anything to help others as they were completely buried under the collapsed roof."


The risk of civilian casualties in western Mosul was always high as Iraqi government forces and their allies stage the assault. Tens of thousands of residents are trapped in homes around the Old City, where local people say extremist fighters are using them human shields or herding them into buildings as cover.


U.S.-led military commanders supporting the Iraqi forces acknowledged on Tuesday that a coalition strike probably played a role in the civilian deaths in the al-Jadida district, but said ISIS could also be to blame.


Exactly what happened on March 17 remains far from clear, but if confirmed those high casualties would mark the worst loss of Iraqi civilian life in a single incident since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and risk damaging the Shi'ite-led government's efforts to keep the war from alienating Mosul's Sunni population.


Coalition officials said there were air strikes in the vicinity of the al-Jadida blast that day. But Iraqi officials have been more cautious, suggesting there was no evidence a strike hit the collapsed building, which they say may have been rigged with explosives by ISIS.


Reuters spoke to several eyewitness at the scene of the al-Jadida blast, where rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the wreckage on Wednesday, hampered by a lack of heavy equipment and the threat from ISIS drone bombs.


The slow recovery may partly explain why casualty figures have varied considerably. Rescue efforts started only days after the explosion. One health official of Nineveh province, whose capital is Mosul, said 250 bodies had been recovered by Tuesday night. That differs from earlier Iraq military figures of 61.


Local residents and eyewitnesses say ISIS fighters were in and around the al-Jadida area the day of the explosion as they battled with Iraqi forces. Air strikes began to target ISIS positions to clear the way for troops, they said. Several blasts hit the area behind the local hospital.


"We were locked inside our houses as bombing intensified. The air strikes targeted four streets just behind Rahma hospital and Fathi mosque," Abu Ayman said. "A few fighters were moving from house to house, using the holes they made before to avoid detection from the air."


Residents describe the explosion that flattened or damaged at least one large building and other homes around six tight alleyways.


"It was a black Friday," said Ahmed Obeida, another eyewitness. "It started with a huge blast that shook the walls of my house followed by series of blasts. We waited for three hours and after the bombing stopped, I went outside and saw that many houses were destroyed. We entered one house and saw body parts, legs and heads in the rubble."


ONLY LARGE BASEMENT



Investigators were still looking on Wednesday into whether the families were forced into the buildings that collapsed by ISIS to cause civilian casualties deliberately or whether they had fled there, seeking shelter as they were caught up in the street-by-street fighting.


One local official and an eyewitness said families and relatives from other districts appeared to have packed into one building because it had a large basement that would safely hold many people.


"I saw fleeing families entering the large house, taking shelter in the basement. It was two-storey house and is the only one in the neighborhood with a large basement," said a local resident. "We started to hear blasts getting closer and suddenly I felt my house was about to collapse. It was a very powerful blast. I couldn't believe we were still alive."


Hassan Yassin, who fled from al-Jadida along with thousands of displaced residents, also said the blast happened in a crowded area near the Fathi mosque. "People were all sheltering in basements, looking for a place to hide. It was a random bombardment," he said.


But other accounts from local officials offer a different view of why the residents were packed into one building.


Ghazwan al-Dawoodi, head of the Nineveh human rights council, said his team had made a field visit, finding that militants had forced residents into a bunker, and opened fire on helicopter gunships to provoke a coalition airstrike.


Two eyewitnesses described how ISIS, known in Arabic by its opponents as Daesh, had parked a truck packed with explosives next to the building. The vehicle may have gone up in an air strike, prompting the structure to collapse.


"I can assure that Daesh brought a truck and parked it in the street next to mine. I saw it with my own eyes but never thought it was packed with explosives," said Obeida. "It's really heartbreaking to see neighbors killed in an instant. Why? What did they do to deserve such a tragic end?"


Coalition officials say that although they may have played a role in the explosion, ISIS was also likely have had a hand in the blast in an attempt to cause civilian casualties and slow the use of air strikes.

One intelligence officer from the federal police told Reuters his force gives coordinates for air strikes but it cannot call in strikes if officers know civilians are there. He said they use surveillance drones to help in targeting.

Iraq's military command has also blamed the militants for rigging a building with explosives to cause civilian casualties, but some local residents and witnesses have little doubt it collapsed due to an air strike.

"After the bombing stopped, I went outside to see what happened and I was stunned to see the house was flattened," said eyewitness Sameer al-Taie. "Neighbors were hysterically shouting for help but we didn't have anything to remove the large blocks of concrete to rescue people. We heard faint voice asking for help from nearby houses but then the voices disappeared."

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8764/Inside-Mosul-a-huge-blast-then-screams-dust-and-horror-Reuters

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SUPPORTING BREXIT‏ @EUVoteLeave23rd Mar 27

 

#Securityservices: 400+ #formerfighters have returned from #Mosul to #UK. Why were they allowed back in? #Government failing to protect us!

pic.twitter.com/ei78chs2sm

https://twitter.com/hashtag/mosul

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ScienceOfDiscontent‏ @SciOfDiscontent 2m2 minutes ago

 

Map of situation in #Mosul between #ISIS and #Iraq forces on 29 March 2017

pic.twitter.com/qnhX2qgNkc

https://twitter.com/hashtag/mosul

[Whatshername]

9 minutes ago, tigergorzow said:

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Tiger... you deserve a Major Award for your outstanding pursuit of Mosul news and updates!  Thank you for your dedication.

[tigergorzow]

US General Admits US Airstrike Killed 100s of Civilians in Mosul

 

22 hours ago March 29, 2017

Iraqi displaced families

Americas - Live News - News - Top - World

 

 

 

A high-ranking US commander has admitted that there was a “fair chance” that a coalition airstrike in western Mosul killed a large number of Iraqi civiliansl, as the UN and Amnesty International called for greater efforts to protect civilians.

“We probably had a role in those casualties,” said Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend while talking to reporters in a phone briefing from Baghdad on Tuesday.

He noted that the reason for the high number of casualties was allegedly ISIL’s repulsive practice of using civilians as human shields.

“The enemy had a hand in this,” he claimed, alleging that “It sure looks like” the civilians has been forced to gather in the building by the terrorists. “What I don’t know is why they [the civilians] gathered there by the enemy?”

On March 17, Iraq’s Kurdish-language Rudaw television network reported that 237 people had been killed in US-led coalition airstrikes on an ISIL-held neighborhood in western Mosul.

Despite admitting to the US’s involvement in the incident, Townsend noted that the munitions used by US-led coalition forces in densely-populated urban areas were not designed to cause such a level of destruction.

The US had previously admitted to having launched airstrikes in Mosul on the day of the deadly tragedy.

Meanwhile, the UN has called on the US-led coalition in Iraq to take further measures towards protecting civilians. UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday that more than 300 civilians have been killed in west Mosul since February 17.

Amnesty’s Donatella Rovera said field research in east Mosul showed “an alarming pattern of US-led coalition air strikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside”. “The high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces… have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” she said.

http://english.almanar.com.lb/224068

[tigergorzow]

Special forces search for IS members hiding among eastern Mosul residents

 

by Mohamed Mostafa Mar 29, 2017, 12:53 pm

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Civilians leave the city to escape from clashes during a battle with Islamic State militants, in al-Zirai district in Mosul, Iraq, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

 

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Special Iraqi forces have been formed to search for Islamic State members hiding among civilians in eastern Mosul, a report has said as fears grow of the group forming dormant cells in the recaptured region.

According to al-Arabiya website, the special forces began their operations two months earlier, when Iraqi government forces took over eastern Mosul from IS.

The report quoted members of the forces saying they rely on intelligence information, experts, suspects confessions and documents left behind by the extremist group as means to screen the suspects and verify their affiliation with the group.

Security commentators had voiced concerns that IS might have left dormant cells inside the recaptured areas in eastern Mosul. The area has already witnessed attacks by IS suicide bombers, drones and gunmen in the weeks that followed the security takeover, leaving casualties among civilians and security members.

Iraqi commanders have said recently they became in control over 50 percent of western Mosul. Operations to retake the city launched in October 2016.

The recapture of Mosul could deal the deadliest blow to IS’s influence in Iraq, but observers fear the group could shift to lone wolf attacks and guerilla fights if lost the city.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/special-forces-search-members-hiding-among-eastern-mosul-residents/

[tigergorzow]

 

 

 

 

 🇮🇶Iraq Live Update‏ @IraqLiveUpdate 2h2 hours ago

 

Enjoys China Wall as Displaced Families stuck behind Daesh Wall of Terror! Ex Mosul governor Atheel Nujaifi who fled Mosul touring #China pic.twitter.com/Fgb1sCzvHt

 

https://twitter.com/IraqLiveUpdate

Edited March 30, 2017 by tigergorzow

[yota691]

International coalition launches 29 raid in Iraq and Syria

History of edits:: 2017/3/30 15:13 • 31 times readable

{Follow: Euphrates News} international coalition forces led by the United States 29 raid on the sites and militants Daesh in Iraq and Syria during the hours in the last 24.

The Central Command said coalition forces operations in a statement on Thursday that "troops in Iraq targeted sites belonging to Daesh through 11 raid near the areas of Baiji and Mosul, Rawa and Tal Afar." 
He also carried out "18 raid against Daesh sites in Syria near the areas of Abu Kamal and Raqqa and Deir al - Zour and class" .anthy

[DWS112]

Daesh authorizes the withdrawal of its elements from Mosul battles  Thursday, March 30, 2017

Beholder / NNA
According to intelligence sources inside the city of Mosul that some Daesh terrorist leaders issued a ruling which allowed the elements to withdraw from the fighting in the city.
The sources indicated to the Agency of the beholder news / NNA / Some leaders Daesh terrorist issued a ruling authorized the withdrawal of the elements of the fighting in the right coast of the city of Mosul, based its judgment on the interpretations of Ibn Taymiyah in the passport to withdraw from the fighting when the number of infidels twice as many Muslims, citing verses from the Koran (now tempered God, you learned that you, weakness) to find out Daesh terrorist leaders that their defeat confirmed after losing most of its leaders and elements of stores gear and weapons in the right coast battles for the city of Mosul, and became escape the duty of its components to arrange his armament, citing the verse ( It is Aolhm that day only orchestrated Trva to fight or biased).
The joint operations and coalition forces announced recently for its operations targeting the aircraft targets were dens of sheltering the leaders of the organization in the city of Mosul.

 

[Synopsis]

Good News DWS112 and Thank You for posting! Hope you are having a Good Morning!

Maybe Saturday, April 1 Abadi will announce Mosul as fully taken from ISIS - no foolin'!

Just thinking out loud.

Go Moola Nova!

[Wiljor]

Just now, Synopsis said:

Good News DWS112 and Thank You for posting! Hope you are having a Good Morning!

Maybe Saturday, April 1 Abadi will announce Mosul as fully taken from ISIS - no foolin'!

Just thinking out loud.

Go Moola Nova!

Wishing it so brother, we are close that's for sure. 

[Synopsis]

14 minutes ago, Wiljor said:

Wishing it so brother, we are close that's for sure. 

I am with you, Brother! I am thinking we are very close, too. Enormous amounts of the Good News we have been waiting for is now in print!

So, we patiently wait - Well, OK, maybe that bad word (wait) will be behind us soon! 

Go Moola Nova!

[Boozer]

All is playing out. UN is in town maybe put Iraq in Article 8.. then it's all down hill.. April my be a month to remember