Nearly 3 years after Da'ish took the city... #Iraq's flag has been raised above #Mosul's government buildings

[Wiljor]

Thanks for the updates tiger, hopefully soon Mosul will be liberated 

[tigergorzow]

2 ISIS terrorists killed in blast in western Mosul

March 04 2017 03:22 PM

ISIS terrorists

Two ISIS terrorists were killed and two others injured while trying to plant explosives in a house in western Mosul city, a local source in Nineveh province said on Saturday.

The house was owned by one of Iraqi security personnel who was killed by ISIS terrorists two years ago, the source added.

On February 19, Iraqi forces launched an offensive to retake western Mosul from ISIS terrorists, the latest operation in a four-month battle to drive the terror group out of its last stronghold in Iraq.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7727/2-ISIS-terrorists-killed-in-blast-in-western-Mosul

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi minister blasts UN over Mosul displaced persons

March 04 2017 11:33 AM

Mosul displaced persons face harsher circumstances as battle rages

Iraqi Minister of Displacement and Migration Jassim Mohammed Al-Jaf on Saturday blasted the UN and its affiliates for falling short of honoring its obligations towards Mosul right bank's displaced persons.

About 10,000 civilians flee Mosul right bank per day. And their sheltering requirements, food, medicine should be secured, the ministry said in a statement.

We will be prompted to expand our shelter and relief plan in case the ongoing displacement rates continue rising, it added.

"We hope that we see a clear and active role of the UN organizations in relief and sheltering the displaced persons in Mosul right bank in the way that suffices those large numbers of displaced people, the statement further noted.

Al-Jaf announced earlier that the number of displaced persons in Mosul right bank exceeded 46,000, asserting that the ministry is unable to fulfill the needs of the increasing number of refugees and displaced people.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7708/Iraqi-minister-blasts-UN-over-Mosul-displaced-persons

[tigergorzow]

IMIS bars Mosul left bank's displaced persons from returning home

March 04 2017 09:53 AM

IMIS continue violations in Mosul

Iran Militia in Iraq and Syria (IMIS) is continuing its violations against civilians in Mosul left bank, Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.

It also asserted that displaced persons started a wave of exodus from the left bank of Mosul towards camps of Al-Kayara, Makhmur, Erbil and Al-Khazer.

Practices of IMIS terrorists and some government forces make it hard for civilians get back to their homes, the observatory indicated.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7704/IMIS-bars-Mosul-left-bank-s-displaced-persons-from-returning-home

[tigergorzow]

Civilians killed by shelling in right bank of Mosul

March 04 2017 12:01 PM

Aerial bombardment

14 civilians from three families were killed by US-led coalition bombardment that targeted a booby-trapped vehicle in central Mosul, local sources said on Saturday.

The bodies of the deceased are still under the houses' rubble and nobody was able to move them due to the intensity of the ongoing fighting, the sources added.

ISIS militants deliberately plant explosive charges near civilians' houses in Mosul neighborhoods.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7710/Civilians-killed-by-shelling-in-right-bank-of-Mosul

[tigergorzow]

WHO Responds to Use of Chemical Weapons by IS in Mosul

 

04/03/2017 - 17:40

 

 

BAGHDAD – Following the reported use of chemical weapons agents in East Mosul, Iraq, World Health Organization (WHO), partners and local health authorities have activated an emergency response plan to safely treat men, women and children who may have been exposed to the highly toxic chemicals, said the WHO.

“Since 1st of March, 12 patients including women and children with respiratory symptoms and blistering have been received for treatment by a referral hospital in Erbil according to local health authorities. Of these, 4 patients are showing severe signs associated with exposure to a blister agent. WHO and its partners are working with health authorities in Erbil to provide support in managing these patients,” reads a statement by the WHO.

Since the beginning of the Mosul crisis, WHO has been taking concrete steps to ensure preparedness for the potential use of chemical weapons, together with local health authorities. As part of a chemical weapons contingency plan, WHO experts have trained more than 120 clinicians and provided them with equipment to safely decontaminate and stabilize patients before they are referred to pre-identified hospitals for further care. Field decontamination and contaminated patients stabilization centers are built into all field hospitals, and referral systems to pre-identified hospitals are in place.

“WHO is extremely alarmed by the use of chemical weapons in Mosul, where innocent civilians are already facing unimaginable suffering as a result of the ongoing conflict.”

The use of chemical weapons is a war crime and is prohibited in a series of international treaties. These include the Hague Declaration concerning Asphyxiating Gases, the 1925 Geneva Protocol, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/334284

[tigergorzow]

Coalition Strikes Destroy IS Positions In Syria And Iraq

 

04/03/2017 - 14:40

 

LEEDS — The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) carried out 16 airstrikes against the terrorist group in both Syria and Iraq on Thursday, the US Central Command said in a press statement released on Friday.

The airstrikes included 10 airstrikes near the Iraqi city of Rawah on the north bank of the Euphrates river which has been under IS-control since 2014 when the extremist group first entered Iraq, Sputnik reported.

"In Iraq, the US coalition conducted 14 strikes consisting of 74 engagements coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq against ISIS targets," the release stated on Friday and continued by saying that the coalition air forces have managed to destroy nine IS-held buildings in the area, while engaging in 10 separate strikes on IS positions, according to Sputnik.

The US -led coalition of 68 member states has also conducted two additional strikes in Iraq near Mosul and destroyed six IS fighting positions, damaged seven supply routes, and suppressed 22 mortar teams, according to the Central Command.

The statement continued by saying that the coalition forces conducted two additional airstrikes in Syria, including one in the Syrian city of Raqqa which destroyed an IS weapons storage facility and another one near Palmyra that damaged a bridge.

The US-led international coalition continues to conduct airstrikes on the territory of Iraq and Syria as part of the campaign against the IS militants

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/middle-east/334246

[tigergorzow]

Seven High-Ranking IS Leaders Killed in Mosul

They were from different Arab nationalities

 

04/03/2017 - 11:15

 

MOSUL — The global coalition to counter the Islamic State (IS) eliminated 7 leaders of the group in west Mosul in an air raid on Friday.

Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement late on Friday that the war jets belonging to the coalition targeted militants in west Mosul, leading to the elimination of 7 IS leaders including Abu Abdulrahman al-Ansari, the commander of Jund al-Khilafah (soldiers of the caliphate), Abu Khalid, Sabah al-Enezi, Abu Azzam, Abu Hijab, Abu Sayyah and Abu Taibah.

According to the statement, the eliminated militants were from different Arab nationalities including Saudi, Jordanian and Bahraini who were struck in al-Najar district in west Mosul.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/334178

[boosterbglee]

Thanks Tiger for the updates ....slowly but surely ISIS will be done in Iraq! 

[Officiallytook]

 this is so saddening

[tigergorzow]

Peshmerga: We will not give any part of Iraq we took from ISIS to Baghdad government

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

04/03/2017

Lieutenant General Jamal Mohamed, the Chief of Staff of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, said that the Peshmerga will not withdraw from any areas they conquered from ISIS and hand it over to the Iraqi government.

“Peshmerga forces will not withdraw from the areas that they liberated before October 10, 2016,” Mohamed said in a press statement on Thursday.

“Peshmerga sacrificed nearly 2,000 martyrs and 12,000 casualties in the war against ISIS. The withdrawal of Peshmerga from these areas is not negotiable,” Mohamed said.

 

Mohamed also pointed out to the importance of preparing new agreement between Erbil and Baghdad, after liberating Mosul, on the situation of the city that includes more than 300,000 Kurdish persons, IraqiNews reported.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/peshmerga-we-will-not-give-any-part-of-iraq-we-took-from-isis-to-baghdad-goverment/

[tigergorzow]

ISIS unleashes a plethora of suicide bombers in failed attack against Iraqi forces in Mosul

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

04/03/2017

 

ISIS today has attempted a counterattack against Iraqi forces in western Mosul.

The counterattack began by the terrorist group with the deployment with of 9 suicide bombers using cars and trucks.

Bad weather in Mosul has forced the Iraqi forces to temporarily halt their offensive in the embattled city. ISIS used this opportunity in the lull of fighting to launch their counterattack.

The counterattack was successfully repelled by government forces, leading to no advancements by the terrorist group.

Preliminary reports that up to 30+ terrorists were exterminated by the Iraqi forces.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-unleash-a-plethora-of-suicide-bombers-in-failed-attack-against-iraqi-forces-in-mosul/

[tigergorzow]

PMU fighter who lost hand, leg fighting ISIS gives inspiring speech to comrades

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

04/03/2017

 

A fighter of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) who lost a hand and a leg fighting ISIS has given any inspiration speech to his comrades.

The fighter identified as Mohammad Abu Saqr gives a moving speech to those that made him a star in Iraq for his sacrifice.

He urges on video that “We are all Mohammad Abu Saqr” and that he should not be given praise, but rather those still fighting ISIS should be.

He emphasized that his sacrifice “is a sacrifice for Iraq” and this his country and people are his crutches.

 

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/pmu-fighter-lost-hand-leg-fighting-isis-gives-inspiring-speech-comrades/

[DWS112]

"Parents" published a map showing the liberated areas until today Ayman Mosul - March 4, 2017

[Half Crazy Runner]

I'm a little surprised to see how much area is still considered under ISIS control .. 

Thanks DWS112 - great find!

Edited March 4, 2017 by Half Crazy Runner

[King Bean]

Looking good. Way up in the upper left corner there should be some tiny graphic of men dressed as women and slinking towards the foothills....with a coalition jet about to administer an enema.

[Officiallytook]

31 minutes ago, Botzwana said:

It hasnt changed in two days.  Must be a heck of a fight

Controlled media...we are definitely a lot further along on all fronts than meets the eyes ... gotta see it with the one inside your mind...😉

[tigergorzow]

7 minutes ago, Officiallytook said:

Controlled media...we are definitely a lot further along on all fronts than meets the eyes ... gotta see it with the one inside your mind...😉

Officiallytook, Absolutely correct.  

[tigergorzow]

18 ISIS militants killed in air strikes on right bank of Mosul

March 04 2017 10:43 PM

Elements

At least 18 ISIS militants were killed on Saturday in air strikes on the right bank of Mosul, according to a security source in Nineveh governorate.

In statements to the press, the source said Iraqi warplanes shelled a residential premises for ISIS militants in al-Huweija neighborhood, claiming the lives of 18 militants.

The source, who asked anonymity, said the air strikes were launched based on intelligence information on the whereabouts of ISIS militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced on February 19 the launching of a massive operation to recapture the city of Mosul, the last stronghold of ISIS in Iraq.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7739/18-ISIS-militants-killed-in-air-strikes-on-right-bank-of-Mosul

[tigergorzow]

IMIS blames Abadi for delaying battle to liberate Tel Afar

March 04 2017 09:28 PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi

IMIS leaders have blamed Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi for delaying the battle to liberate Tel Afar, northwest of Mosul, from ISIS militants under international and regional pressure.

In statements on Saturday, IMIS leader Gawad al-Telebawi said there are intensive political pressures exercised on Abadi by local politicians to impede the entry of IMIS troops to Tal Afar.

He also claimed that regional pressures have been practiced to prevent IMIS from reaching out to intelligence officers who run and guide the moves of ISIS militants in the region.

He also accused Abadi of succumbing to such pressures despite the readiness of IMIS troops to launch a massive operation to retake the city from ISIS.

IMIS have been liberating villages and capturing strategic sites from ISIS, but they are not preferred by the Iraqi government to participate in the operation to take the town for fear that the mostly Sunni Turkmen town will not welcome the Shi’ite militia.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7737/IMIS-blames-Abadi-for-delaying-battle-to-liberate-Tel-Afar

[tigergorzow]

IS Executes 7 Families South of Mosul

04/03/2017 - 21:47

 

LEEDS — The Islamic State (IS) militants have executed at least seven civilian families in Mosul where violent clashes continue between the Iraqi army and the extremist group, a Federal Police officer said on Saturday. 

Khodier Saleh, an officer in the Iraqi Federal Police, said that the IS militants in the area of Nabi Sheth blew up ten civilian houses hours before the Iraqi forces managed to enter the area as part of the ongoing operation against IS in Mosul, IraqiNews reported. 

Saleh continued by saying that the Iraqi forces managed to recapture the Nabi Sheth police station, after the IS extremists executed seven civilian families who were previously captured by the extremists while trying to flee the IS-held areas in the village of Tal al-Rayan. 

Following the full liberation of the eastern neighborhoods of Mosul, the Iraqi government forces are now fighting to recapture the western part of the city, where more fierce clashes are expected to take place due to IS’ influence in the area.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/334334

[tigergorzow]

Masrour Barzani: Kurdistan Haven for People Fleeing Violence

Barzani and Gianni Vernetti, the Italian former Senator met in Erbil

• 
   

04/03/2017 - 18:19

 

ERBIL — Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), Masrour Barzani received Gianni Vernetti, the Italian Former Senator and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, on Saturday in Erbil.

During the meeting, the officials discussed the latest developments in the region, the bilaterl ties as well as the military and political situation in Iraq, particularly the anti-Islamic State (IS) efforts.

Both parties reviewed measures to increase political and economic activities and the ongoing campaign against IS in Iraq and Syria.

Vernetti, who is a friend to Kurds, said "Italy always supports the strategic interests of the Kurdish people."

Barzani thanked the government of Italy for its military assistance to Peshmerga forces which played a vital role in foiling the terrorists' offensives against the Kurdistan Region.

Regarding the increasing number of the IDPs settled in the Kurdistan Region, Barzani reiterated that "Kurdistan is home to communities whose members fled for co-existence and a haven the Middle East cannot provide."

Barzani stressed out the importance of a political agreement for Mosul after the elimination of IS, arguing that if a political consensus is not achieved over the administration of the post-IS Mosul, the pre-IS issues and political tensions in the city will reappear.

The pair also agreed on the importance of a mechanism for redefining the relations between Baghdad and Erbil based on equality and mutual interests for the lasting stability and peace in the country.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/334292

[tigergorzow]

By Charlie D'Agata CBS News March 4, 2017, 7:56 PM

Iraqi boy trapped in Mosul for years finally reunited with mother (Video in link)

 

NEAR MOSUL, Iraq -- Muhaiman was only 9 years old when militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) overran Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, in 2014. He found himself trapped, terrified and separated from his mother.

He said he thought he’d never see her again.

“I thought that I was already dead,” he said. “During the fighting there was bombing right next to us and our neighbors were killed.”

He and his family were among the tens of thousands who fled when ISIS first invaded. But when his father Qassim decided to risk going back to Mosul to grab some belongings, Muhaiman begged to join him.

That decision proved to be a dreadful mistake. When Muhaiman and his father tried to leave, they found that ISIS had cut off all escape routes out of the city. 

Civilians who fled clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIS fighters in Mosul are gathered at an old gas station south of the city on Friday, March 3, 2017

Susannah George/AP

“They raided our home,” Muhaiman remembers. “They took my video game and threw it out of the window. Our apartment is on the third floor.”

For two and a half long years, his mother Zeinab feared the worst. There were rumors ISIS had executed her husband. There was no way of reaching her son.

“I began to lose hope,” Zeinab said. “Especially after the bombing started. I had nothing left but tears and prayers.”

Muhaiman finally managed to escape when Iraqi forces liberated his neighborhood in eastern Mosul.

By pure chance, a family friend noticed Muhaiman in news footage and promptly called his mother. 

“What did we do?” Zeinab said. “We just ran out on the street. We started running the streets looking for a taxi. We just wanted to get there as soon as we could.”

 

And then the moment neither had dared dream about. 

Asked what ran through his mind when he first saw his mother, Muhaiman smiled.

“I was very happy,” he recalled. “I became emotional, and there were all those TV cameras filming the moment.”

Now Zeinab can’t bear to have him more than an arm’s length away.

“No, even now, I can’t believe it,” Zeinab said. “To this moment, at night, he reaches out to me and says, ‘Mom, I can’t believe I’m in your arms.’”

A barren and dusty camp outside of Mosul is home now, and for the foreseeable future, they don’t have much. But they have each other.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraqi-boy-trapped-in-mosul-for-years-finally-reunited-with-mother/

[tigergorzow]

4 hours ago
UN: Alleged Mosul chemical attack amounts to war crime

Investigation urged into possible use of toxic agents as Iraq hospital chief says he is certain chemical gas was used.

04 Mar 2017 21:53 GMT

 

Dima Nadm Hamid is being treated for possible exposure to toxic agents [Azad Lashkari/Reuters]

Twelve people, including women and children, are being treated for possible exposure to chemical-weapons agents in Mosul, where ISIL is fighting off an offensive by US-backed Iraqi forces, according to the UN.

The UN's World Health Organization said in a statement on Saturday that with partners and local health authorities it activated "an emergency response plan to safely treat men, women and children who may be exposed to the highly toxic chemical".

Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, called for an investigation.

Thousands displaced as the battle for Mosul rages

"This is horrible. If the alleged use of chemical weapons is confirmed, this is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime, regardless of who the targets or the victims of the attacks are," she said in a statement.

The UN said all 12 patients had been received since March 1 for treatment which they are undergoing in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region, east of Mosul.

Four of them are showing "severe signs associated with exposure to a blister agent".

The patients were reportedly exposed to the chemical agents in the eastern side of Mosul.

Reporting from Erbil, Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, who visited the hospital where the patients were being treated, said: "I saw a young boy, about eight or nine years old, and his entire body had burn marks, black and brown marks, all across his body.

"The manager of the hospital told us when these patients came in, the emanated a very strong odour, which is one of the side effects of being affected by these chemical gases."

The hospital manager was "certain that some form of chemical gas has been used", our correspondent said.

So far, no investigation into the use of chemical weapons has been launched.

Thaier Hamed Nadm, 10, is one of the children being treated for exposure [A Lashkari/Reuters]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday that five children and two women were receiving treatment for exposure to chemical agents.

The ICRC statement did not say which side used the chemical agents that caused blisters, redness in the eyes, irritation, vomiting and coughing.

Iraqi forces captured the eastern side of Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched their attack on the districts that lie west of the Tigris River on February 19.

The eastern side remains within reach of ISIL fighters' rockets and mortar shells.

Humanitarian crisis

Defeating ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in Mosul would crush the Iraqi wing of the armed group.

ISIL, also known as ISIS, which holds the majority of west Mosul, has periodically used rudimentary chemical weapons in the course of its more than two-year war with Iraqi forces.

The suspected use of chemical weapons comes as rapidly increasing flow of people pours out of western Mosul, fleeing fierce battles between Iraqi security forces and ISIL fighters.

Historic churches in Iraq facing neglect or destruction

More than 50,000 people have fled the city's west since the push to retake it was launched on February 19, according to Jassem Mohammed al-Jaff, Iraq's minister of displacement and migration.

On Saturday, Jaff criticised the UN's efforts in helping the displaced.

"Unfortunately, there is a clear shortfall in the work of these [UN] organisations," he said. "The United Nations talks a lot but the efforts being made are little, despite the huge amount of money in their possession."

For its part, the UN said it is working as fast as possible to help those displaced.

UN agencies have been been providing shelter, food and other assistance to Iraqis since the battle for Mosul began.

"The top priority for humanitarians is to make sure that there is sufficient capacity at emergency sites to deal with the number of civilians who are fleeing western Mosul," said Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator.

"In the past several weeks, we have been rushing to. .. construct that capacity, and we are redoubling our efforts now."

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/alleged-mosul-chemical-attack-amounts-war-crime-170304132854968.html

Edited March 5, 2017 by tigergorzow

[tigergorzow]

ISIS launches Mosul counter-offensive as US airstrikes wipe out jihadist commanders

By

Chris Tomson

-

04/03/2017

 

Under the guise of poor weather, ISIS militants unleashed a massive counter-attack in residential neighborhoods of western Mosul on Saturday.

According to a military source close to Al-Masdar News, upwards of nine ISIS suicide bombers blew up near army positions held primarily by the Iraqi Federal Police and Rapid Response Units.

Nevertheless, the jihadist offensive was largely repelled as Islamic State fighters were unable to keep control of several residential areas they briefly overran.

Yesterday, the Iraqi Armed Forces officially secured the Wadi Hajar district in southwestern Mosul after a week-long battle.

In total, ISIS sustained at least 30 casualties by midday on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the US Air Force claimed it had killed seven ‘high-ranking ISIS commanders’ on Friday due to an airstrike on Al-Najjar Mosque in the northwestern part of the city:
– Abu Khalid (Saudi national).
– Sabah al-‘Anzhi (Saudi national).
– Abu ‘Azzam (Saudi national).
– Abu Hijab (Saudi national).
– Abu Siyah (Jordanian national).
– Abu Taybah (Jordanian national).
– Abu Abdul-Rahman Al-Ansari (Saudi national, commander of Jund al-Khalifa, ISIS’ elite assault troops).

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-launches-mosul-counter-offensive-us-airstrikes-wipe-jihadist-commanders/