Mosul update

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U.S. base rises from the rubble for Mosul push

 

by Mohamed Mostafa Mar 19, 2017, 3:01 pm

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U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division gather around an artillery at a military base north of Mosul, Iraq, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily

 

(Reuters) U.S. troops are hard at work rehabilitating this battle-scarred, rubble-strewn airfield as a logistics and support hub for Iraqi and international forces in the decisive battle against Islamic State for the city of Mosul 60 km to the north.

The whirl of activity and the return of American soldiers signify a new U.S. build-up in Iraq 14 years on from the invasion that set off a conflict which has undergone various permutations.

But senior officers insist this mission is limited and temporary. The stated goal is to annihilate Islamic State and to help the Iraqi army.

“They are a sovereign nation and they’ve allowed us to come and advise them. We want to get rid of the bad guys. We are all moving towards the same objective,” said Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Curtis of the 82nd Airborne support battalion.

Nine months ago, Islamic State still held Qayyara West. The hardline militants had seized it from the Iraqi army in 2014 and destroyed the place, demolishing buildings and breaking up the runway with jackhammers.

A resurgent Iraqi army recaptured it last July and soldiers from the U.S. 101st Airborne Division were deployed here in October as the offensive to recapture Mosul, Islamic State’s last stronghold in the country, got underway. The 82nd Airborne took over at Q-West, as the base is known, in December.

About 1,000 personnel, mostly Americans but including other members of the international coalition, are based at Q-West out of a total of about 1,700 in the area of the Mosul operation, base commander Lieutenant Colonel Sebastian Pastor said.

Designated in military parlance as an Intermediate Staging Base, it provides support and logistics for several Tactical Assembly Areas closer to the battlefront. U.S. advisors are out on the field but Q-West also has an offensive role -– a rocket battery is stationed here and regularly fires missiles at IS positions in western Mosul, and an air cavalry troop flies its helicopters in support of Iraqi forces on the ground.

POST APOCALYPSE

The place has a post-apocalypse look to it. Piles of rubble from destroyed buildings dot the landscape. Concrete blast walls surround the perimeter and snake through the inside. Containers and pallets of supplies are piled everywhere and fleets of armoured vehicles and bulldozers are parked in rows.

The soldiers sleep in small concrete bunkers under tenting. A toppled water tower has become a landmark. In recent days, heavy rains had turned the ground into a sea of mud.

It is a far cry from when it was a major U.S. base at the height of the occupation, with a golf-driving range and a swimming pool, and was dubbed Key West after the Florida holiday island.

“It’s going to get bigger but it’s not going to get nicer,” said battalion planner Captain Anne Nagy, who is in charge of construction.

Nagy described the base as a giant Greyhound bus station.

“We have hundreds of people in transit and they need supplying. You have a lot of people who are basically dedicated to organising people, food, fuel, ammunition.”

More troops will be arriving but how many and for how long depends on the battle for Mosul and its aftermath, Nagy said.

“We are going to hand it over to the Iraqi army as this operation closes out,” she said.

Lieutenant Colonel Curtis also stressed that the build-up did not mean the United States was committing its forces to a long and costly new era of involvement.

She had served in Iraq during the 2003 invasion.

“It’s a different fight now. We are here to support the Iraqi government. We are here on their permission and at their request. We are not the ones doing the fighting. We are advising them.”

Asked how long they might stay, she said. “Our fight right now is in west Mosul. We can’t speculate on the way ahead.”

Handing over the airfield to Iraqi control is also a principle aim, said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Carrie Coleman, head of the 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group detachment.

The runway has been repaired and can handle giant C-130 transporters. Two or three land per day, mostly at night for security reasons. There are air traffic controllers, weather specialists and cargo teams.

“Our mission here is to keep the logistics moving, bringing in cargo and people. Our goal is to get the Iraqis on their feet as soon as we can,” Coleman said.

How long might that be? “Maybe in a year or so.”

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/u-s-base-rises-rubble-mosul-push/

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Iraq war map: Who controls what

As fighting in parts of Iraq intensifies, a visual breakdown of the control of territory after years of war.

Yarno Ritzen | 19 Mar 2017 14:26 GMT |

 

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After more than a decade of instability, parts of Iraq still lie in shambles, with several forces and groups fighting for control of large parts of the country.

Supported by air strikes from US-led coalition warplanes, the Iraqi government and Kurdish forces have been trying to take territory from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group.

Currently, Mosul is ISIL's only stronghold in the country, the group having suffered a number of territorial losses over the past few months.

ISIL has been losing territory not only in Iraq, but also in Syria, as this map of the Syrian civil war shows.

Source: Al Jazeera News

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2016/08/iraq-war-map-controls-160830115440480.html

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ISIL after Mosul: Insurgency and rivalry

As the battle for Mosul reaches its final stages, what we are witnessing is ISIL's transformation, not its demise.

19 Mar 2017 10:10 GMT |

 

An Iraqi soldier walks next to a wall painted with the black flag commonly used by ISIL, near Arabi neighbourhood, north of Mosul, Iraq, January 21 [Khalid al Mousily/Reuters]

By

Alia Brahimi

@aliabrahimi

Alia Brahimi is a specialist in terrorism and political trends in the Middle East and North Africa.

"The battle now is in the final stages," Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi said on March 14 of the government offensive to retake Mosul from ISIL. "They are cornered, and if they will not surrender they will definitely get killed."

While the impending combat threatens to be circuitous and uncertain - involving, as it will, fighting among civilians in the narrow streets and alleyways of the Old City - Abadi's confidence about the final outcome appears to be warranted.

But what will be the broader repercussions of Mosul's liberation for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS)?

Back to insurgency

 

Firstly, on the tactical level, ISIL will continue to devolve into an insurgency - leaving civilians extraordinarily vulnerable. Suicide bombings on soft targets are set to increase, as will attacks on pilgrims, funeral processions and infrastructure.

Unfortunately, ISIL's leaders will feel comfortable with this gear-change. Many of them cut their teeth as insurgents in post-invasion Iraq, under the banner of predecessor groups such as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and the Islamic State of Iraq.

In the summer, as it became clear ISIL would inevitably lose its grip on key territories in Iraq and Syria, a devastating car bomb in the Shia-dominated Karada district of Baghdad killed more than 200 civilians.

The bombing, which was the deadliest explosion to rock Baghdad since 2003, was followed closely by a triple suicide attack at a Shia holy site in Balad.

On February 24, ISIL fighters were pushed out of Al Bab, their last stronghold in northern Syria. The following day, two suicide bombings claimed 53 lives.

In the wake of last month's successful operation to evict ISIL from Sirte in Libya, authorities must surely be braced for the infiltration of Tripoli and other major cities by ISIL sleeper cells.

Indeed, as the Mosul campaign intensifies, it is worth recalling that the 2007 "surge" in Iraq successfully expelled AQI from key safe havens in Baghdad and the Anbar province, yet this tactical degradation never translated into strategic defeat.

The battle for Mosul may be in its final stages, but so long as there is a market for extremist groups to offer protection and livelihoods to vulnerable populations, the shape-shifting war goes on.

Then, as now, the drivers for radicalisation and recruitment - the raison d'etre - were still there: a brutalising combination of grinding poverty and legitimate Sunni grievances against the Iraqi state.

A move to insurgency makes the political track more important than ever, as ISIL seeks to blend in with "host" populations once more. "We rely upon the people to billet us," as the Northern Irish nationalist Gerry Adams once put it.

The onus on the Iraqi government to reach out to these Sunni communities systematically and meaningfully could not be stronger.

In the crosshairs in Syria

The second impact of the liberation of Mosul will be felt in Syria, where ISIL increasingly finds itself in the crosshairs of both Turkish-backed and Kurdish forces.

Despite its many complications, and the preponderance of competing "cooks", the battle for Raqqa is undoubtedly entering a new phase.

The Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have moved into surrounding villages and cut the supply road to Deir Az-Zor, with the aim of isolating and besieging the ISIL "capital" from all sides.

Furthermore, United States commitment is clear - to serve as a buffer between various rebel factions, as much as to provide weapons, Rangers and air and artillery support.

Finally, as ISIL's proto-state is assaulted and its men fan out across the region, we may see an uptick of competition with a quietly assertive al-Qaeda.

In Syria, for example, al-Qaeda has been a dominant presence within the armed opposition, operating officially under the banner of Jabhat al-Nusra until July 2016, and unofficially as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) since.

Its leaders aim at a genuine grassroots insurgency, and have sought to gradually assimilate into Syrian society.

At the same time, however, JFS is on the verge of open conflict with another Islamist faction, Ahrar al-Sham.

 

In January 2017, JFS spearheaded an alliance with smaller Salafist groups, known as Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham, making it a formidable player in the country's northwest.

Ahrar al-Sham, with its more moderate, nationalist orientation has itself taken in a number of smaller factions seeking protection from JFS, and tensions have now reached fever-pitch in Idlib, the last rebel-held province.

At the heart of these divisions is the peace process with the regime, a stepped-up drone campaign against JFS, and a blame game over the fall of Aleppo. The introduction into this mix of retreating ISIL elements could prove explosive.

The African dimension

In North and West Africa, al-Qaeda is resilient.

 

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has withstood the chokehold of the Algerian security services, US drones, and the French-led intervention in Mali, to launch a range of attacks in recent years, whether storming a beach resort in Ivory Coast or conducting a low-level insurgency in northern Mali.

AQIM even managed to win back to its tent the rogue commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar, mastermind of the Ain Amenas operation.

From January to June 2016, al-Qaeda-linked groups launched more than 100 attacks in West Africa. Earlier this month, four Sahel-based affiliates announced their merger into a single movement under the leadership of Iyad Ag Ghaly.

Thousands of North African natives have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIL's ranks - the prospect of their return has deeply troubled security agencies, and must surely rankle al-Qaeda.

In Algeria, AQIM's birthplace, the ISIL-linked Jund al-Khalifa may be on its knees, but at least two other groups have pledged allegiance to the so-called caliphate. In Tunisia and Libya, where al-Qaeda affiliates are firmly established, ISIL encroachment will continue to generate fierce resentment and rivalry.

ISIL has already proved unable to resist the temptation to challenge al-Qaeda in the Sahel, with its porous borders and lucrative smuggling routes. Hence, in November 2016, the Islamic State in Greater Sahara was formed, led by Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi.

In Yemen, too, ISIL has made cameo appearances in the al-Qaeda heartland of Hadramout province, with deadly suicide bombings in Mukalla, and, separately, Aden, last year.

The battle for Mosul may be in its final stages, but so long as there is a market for extremist groups to offer protection and livelihoods to vulnerable populations, the shape-shifting war goes on.

Alia Brahimi is a specialist in terrorism and political trends in the Middle East and North Africa.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/03/isil-mosul-insurgency-rivalry-170319081646052.html

Edited March 20, 2017 by tigergorzow

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Iraqi Day  🇮🇶‏ @iraqi_day 10h10 hours ago

 

#Mosul map update. Green= liberated and under #Iraqi forces control. Orange= frontline clashes. White= #ISIS controlled areas.

pic.twitter.com/vsXg6Ovm52

https://twitter.com/hashtag/mosul

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Iraqi Day  🇮🇶‏ @iraqi_day 9h9 hours ago

 

Map update #Mosul old district battle enters its 11 day & as #Iraqi forces advance the battle gets more intense.

pic.twitter.com/FiqP9IxZ4r

https://twitter.com/hashtag/mosul

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Inherent Resolve‏Verified account @CJTFOIR 14h14 hours ago

 

On Mar. 18, #CJTFOIR conducted 23 strikes consisting of 56 engagements against ISIS terrorists in Syria & Iraq MORE: http://ow.ly/bE9F30a32A3 

pic.twitter.com/mG7KB8v9rd

https://twitter.com/CJTFOIR

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Mosul Eye عين الموصل‏ @MosulEye 7h7 hours ago

 

Update Mosul 19/3/2017 10:00 PM Green : Liberated Red : Clashes Black : ISIL Control pic.twitter.com/f9UTrRjNdO

https://twitter.com/MosulEye?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

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 🇮🇶Iraq Live Update‏ @IraqLiveUpdate 11h11 hours ago

 

Hashd deliver 4000 food baskets and clean water to families south of #Mosul #Iraq #ForYou pic.twitter.com/Vhjs29sOx6

https://twitter.com/IraqLiveUpdate

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 🇮🇶Iraq Live Update‏ @IraqLiveUpdate 11h11 hours ago

 

Hashd send 1600 trucks packed with aid and warm clothing to displaced families West, North and South of Mosul #Iraq #ForYou

pic.twitter.com/pIj5mEwddI

https://twitter.com/IraqLiveUpdate

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 🇮🇶Iraq Live Update‏ @IraqLiveUpdate 11h11 hours ago

 

Daesh disintegrates as Iraqi ICTS & Rapid Response units coordinate ops behind Daesh defence lines.. Creating havoc within terrorists #Iraq

pic.twitter.com/YlyKzsLHQc

https://twitter.com/IraqLiveUpdate

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 🇮🇶Iraq Live Update‏ @IraqLiveUpdate 11h11 hours ago

 

Iraqi Counter Terrorism continue their advances securing Nablus district in the heart of #Mosul #Iraq

pic.twitter.com/Ij80GuDENI

https://twitter.com/IraqLiveUpdate

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Six ISIS leaders killed in airstrikes on Mosul's right bank

March 20 2017 11:11 AM

Iraqi forces shell Mosul's right bank

Commander of the Rapid Intervention Forces Maj. Gen. Thamer Muhammed Ismail announced Monday that six ISIS leaders were killed in airstrikes on the right bank of Mosul.

In press statements on Monday, Maj. General Thamer said the Iraqi forces, backed by airstrikes from the US-led coalition warplanes, killed six leaders of the terrorist group in the right bank of Mosul.

He pointed out that the Iraqi forces pushed deep some 150 meters into the old city of Mosul, adding that bad weather conditions and heavy fog have hindered the progress of the Iraqi troops towards their targets in the old city.

Earlier in the day, Commander of the Iraqi Federal Police Lt. Gen. Raed Shaker Jawdat said Iraqi special troops units and Rapid Intervention Forces resumed their progress to surround the Grand Mosque of al-Nouri. The troops pushed deep some 100 meters from the eastern side of the old city of Mosul, while other units moved some 200 meters from the western side of the city near Bab el-Baydh neighborhood. 

The operations comes as part of a major offensive launched by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on February 19 to capture the western side of Mosul after the Iraqi army fully liberated the eastern side of the embattled city.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8370/Six-ISIS-leaders-killed-in-airstrikes-on-Mosul-s-right-bank

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Iraq police resume operations to surround "Grand Nouri" mosque in Mosul

March 20 2017 10:49 AM

Iraqi Federal Police

Iraqi Federal Police on Monday resumed their operations to surround the Grand Mosque of al-Nouri in western Mosul.

In a press statement on Monday, Commander of the Federal Police Forces Lt. Gen. Raed Shaker Jawdat said Iraqi special troops units and Rapid Intervention Forces resumed their progress to surround the Grand Mosque of al-Nouri. The troops pushed deep some 100 meters from the eastern side of the old city of Mosul, while other units moved some 200 meters from the western side of the city near Bab el-Baydh neighborhood.

The advancing troops killed 36 ISIS militants and destroyed 13 booby-trapped vehicles, he added.

Jawdat also pointed out that the Iraqi forces are making a cautious progress in the old city of Mosul to safeguard the lives of civilians, noting that the Iraqi forces are mainly depending on drones and special operatives to target ISIS position in the densely-populated city.  

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8368/Iraq-police-resume-operations-to-surround-Grand-Nouri-mosque-in-Mosul

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Mosul depicts tragedy of modern times: MP

March 20 2017 12:21 PM

Ahmed al-Jarba

Lawmaker Ahmed al-Jarba said on Monday the humanitarian situation in Mosul can be described as "the tragedy of modern times", The Baghdad Post reported.     

In a press statement, al-Jarba said, "Hundreds of civilians were killed and wounded in the ongoing several-month  battles, as well as the spread of diseases and epidemics, most notably in the right bank of Mosul."

The disaster in Mosul is unprecedented in Iraq's history while the Iraqi government and the international community turn blind eye to it, al-Jarba, a parliamentarian for the Union of Iraqi Forces, said. 

He reiterated calls for the government and the United Nations to shoulder their legal and moral responsibilities towards the people of Mosul and  provide them well-equipped camps.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8374/Mosul-depicts-tragedy-of-modern-times-MP

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Photos: Life returns to Mosul's waterfalls on Nowruz Day

March 20 2017 01:00 PM

Mosul Waterfalls

 

Pictures were recently obtained by The Baghdad Post showing Iraqi civilians celebrating Nowruz Spring Festival at the waterfalls area of Mosul eastern bank after this part of the city was completely liberated from ISIS terrorists two months ago.


The waterfalls are considered by many of Iraqis as tour destination despite it was neglected during ISIS control over the city.






Civilians told the Baghdad post that they are happy to breathe the fresh air in the waterfalls area and wish that military operation would complete Mosul's right bank liberation soon.

During its control of the city, ISIS terrorist group banned such tours, claiming that it is a delusion, saying that men and women gathering is suspicious.

 

Nowruz is a rite dating back to at least the 6th century BCE, marking the new year and ushering in spring. Variously known as Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz or Nevruz, this historic rite is observed on 21 March in many countries along the Silk Roads, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

These annual traditions to welcome the spring have been passed on from generation to generation throughout the last millennium. Nowruz provides an opportunity not only to enjoy ancient cultural customs and traditional songs, music, dancing, rituals, foods and story-telling, but also to promote peace and solidarity within towns and communities and to strengthen deep-rooted bonds of friendship and exchange.

In recognition of the importance of this ancient rite, Nowruz was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. Moreover, in 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March International Nowruz Day.

 

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8377/Photos-Life-returns-to-Mosul-s-waterfalls-on-Nowruz-Day

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Iraq gov't, world turn blind eye as Mosul plight exacerbates

March 20 2017 02:16 PM

Mosul plight

 

Head of Nineveh provincial council, Noufal Hammad said the plight in Mosul exacerbates amid absence of much-needed support from the central government and the world.

Hammad confirmed in statements to The Baghdad Post on Monday that the number of the displaced from Mosul is on the rise. 

He also denied the provincial council called for stopping the ongoing battles as the decision "must be issued by the Prime Minister".

Meanwhile, lawmaker Ahmed al-Jarba said the humanitarian situation in Mosul can be described as "the tragedy of modern times".  


In a press statement, al-Jarba said, "Hundreds of civilians were killed and wounded in the ongoing several-month  battles, as well as the spread of diseases and epidemics, most notably in the right bank of Mosul."


The disaster in Mosul is unprecedented in Iraq's history while the Iraqi government and the international community turn blind eye to it, al-Jarba, a parliamentarian for the Union of Iraqi Forces, said. 


He reiterated calls for the government and the United Nations to shoulder their legal and moral responsibilities towards the people of Mosul and  provide them well-equipped camps.


Al-Jarba's statements echo other parliamentarians' warnings against a growing catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mosul. 


MP Farah al-Sarraj, from Nineveh Governorate, has called upon the governmental forces and the international coalition to be cautious in their attacks to save civilians in Mosul.

She confirmed countless civilians were killed and wounded amid the military operations in Mosul's right bank, calling upon the armed forces to change their military tactics in the region. 




Under fires of ISIS, IMIS 

ISIS terrorists in the right bank took thousands of civilians  captives to use them as human shields in their fight against the Iraqi army.


Human rights activists have warned that the densely-populated Mosul's right bank with too narrow alleys and rickety houses exacerbates the humanitarian tragedy. 


This comes amid growing pleas from the residents of Mosul for their rescue from attacks by IMIS militants. 


The Iran-backed IMIS militants disguised in security forces uniforms, especially the Federal Police's, had systematically looted  the homes and stores.



Eyewitnesses say elements of governmental security forces have repeatedly  brutally assaulted disarmed civilians in Mosul.


They confirmed the forces along with the sectarian militias in Iraq, particularly IMIS, have repeatedly terrorized, looted, detained and killed civilians in Mosul.


Displacement Crisis


Earlier this week, Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) estimated the number of the displaced from Mosul's left bank at 176,000 civilians.
 
In a statement, the ministry said "This brings the total number of the displaced from Mosul since the start of an offensive to liberate the city from ISIS terrorist group to 406 thousand civilians. 




Rights activists and MPs have voiced concerns about the hygiene in the camps provided by the government. 


A report issued by the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that some people, mostly women and children, died due to malnutrition and lack of drinkable water. 

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8382/Iraq-gov-t-world-turn-blind-eye-as-Mosul-plight-exacerbates

Edited March 20, 2017 by tigergorzow

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For first time, U.S. helicopters fly over Anbar

March 20 2017 02:30 PM

Breaking

U.S. helicopters have flown over Anbar governorate, western Iraq, for the first time, military sources told The Baghdad Post on Monday.  

The U.S.-led coalition provides an air covering for the Iraqi army that started on February 19 an offensive to liberate Mosul from ISIS. 

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8384/For-first-time-U-S-helicopters-fly-over-Anbar

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IMIS terrorists shell village in west of Mosul

March 20 2017 04:09 PM

Breaking

Iranian Militia in Iraq and Syria (IMIS) shelled Boba al-Sham village in the west of Mosul city, a source told The Baghdad Post on Monday.

The militants are about to storm the village, the source added.

On February 19, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the operation on state TV, saying government forces were moving to "liberate the people of Mosul from ISIS oppression and terrorism forever", using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8390/IMIS-terrorists-shell-village-in-west-of-Mosul

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ISIS force young men to fight in defence of Mosul -Reuters

March 20 2017 04:29 PM

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Reuters

 

ISIS terrorists are forcing young men in western Mosul to fight for them in defense of the remaining pockets of their former stronghold against an Iraqi government assault, fleeing residents and Iraqi officers said on Monday.

According to Reuters news agency, the forced recruitment is a sign that the hardline militants are growing more desperate as the battle for what was once the de facto capital of their self-proclaimed caliphate enters its sixth month.

Elite Federal Police and Rapid Response units on Monday resumed their cautious advance on the al-Nuri Mosque in western Mosul's Old City. But thousands of people took advantage of the fog and rain in the early morning to flee ISIS-controlled areas and reach the safety of government lines.

The militants were using residents as human shields, hiding in houses and forcing young men to fight, several refugees said.

Ali, a former government worker, said he had hidden his sons in a basement when ISIS fighters came looking for recruits.
"It feels like the siege is ending. All they are doing now is defending," he told Reuters. "I hid my sons in the basement and told them if you want my sons you will have to kill me."

Yassin, a butcher who also escaped from the west side, said ISIS held less ground than before.

"They would come to my butcher shop looking for people so people stayed away. People even stopped going to the mosque because sometimes they would come to take people from there to join the fighting," he said.

Residents who had left said Iraqi, Syrian and other foreign militants remaining in the area tried to make them stay.

"A French militant beat me and threatened me to force me to stay," said one woman who gave her name as Um Tahseen.

A Federal Police intelligence officer, Captain Ali al-Kinani, said the militants wanted to fill up their ranks as they had suffered heavy casualties.

Some fighters were wearing civilian clothes under their uniforms and would switch outfits to mix in with fleeing civilians, he said.

"We arrested dozens who said that they were forced by Daesh to carry arms or take a bullet in the head if they refused," Kinani said, using an Arab acronym for ISIS.

"Many families that fled the fight asked our troops to help their sons. Some young men hiding inside their houses are still waiting for our forces to secure their neighborhoods and rescue them."

UNDER PRESSURE

If the militants' behavior indicates that ISIS is steadily being worn down, the battle for Mosul is still expected to last several more weeks. The government offensive was launched in October with support from U.S. artillery, air strikes and advisers and the eastern side of the city on the Tigris river was secured in December.

The campaign for the western side, now in its second month, is harder as it is more densely populated, the streets are narrower and the houses closely packed together.

Attention has focused on the Old City and the al-Nuri Mosque, from where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate after his forces had seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Baghdadi and other ISIS leaders have fled Mosul, whereabouts unknown, but the militants still hold several other districts of western Mosul beyond the Old City and are defending them with sniper and mortar fire and suicide car bombs. U.S. officials estimate that about 2,000 ISIS fighters remain there.

At the same time, ISIS forces in the Syrian city of Raqqa are under attack in a parallel conflict.

On Sunday, a U.S.-led coalition air strike on an IS command center in western Mosul killed six foreign militant commanders, including a Russian, Abdul Kareem al-Rusi, who headed the Tareq Bin Ziyad Brigade.

The number of displaced people from both sides of Mosul since the start of the offensive has reached 355,000, Iraq's immigration minister said on Monday. Some 181,000 had poured out of western Mosul since the start of the operations to retake that side a month ago, Minister Jassim Mohammed said.

The United Nations refugee agency is opening new camps to handle the exodus as the present ones are overflowing.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8391/ISIS-force-young-men-to-fight-in-defence-of-Mosul-Reuters

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IMIS says about to storm Bawabat al-Sham, western Mosul

March 20 2017 03:18 PM

Breaking

IMIS terrorists have launched a missile attack on Bawabat al-Sham village, western Mosul, The Baghdad Post reported on Monday.

The Iran-backed militias  have announced in a statement their 26th Division was about to storm the village "to reach the Tigris River banks". 

They claim they fight ISIS terrorists, but independent reports and observers confirm they loot houses and kill civilians.  

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8388/IMIS-says-about-to-storm-Bawabat-al-Sham-western-Mosul

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Schoolmaster, his family killed in terrorist attacks in Mosul

March 20 2017 05:47 PM

Breaking

The schoolmaster of Al-Qurtubi school, Salem Mohamed Abdullah, and his family were killed on Monday after terrorist shelled his house, sources told The Baghdad Post.
 

Earlier, terrorists shelled the Nablus district in the right bank of Mosul.

This comes as the Iraqi forces, in collaboration with US-led coalition, are continuing offensive against the terror group of ISIS to retake the rest of Mosul.

On February 19, prime minister Hiader Al-Abadi declared the start of a major offensive to wipe the terror group, which once controlled the city as part of its self-styled caliphate.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8397/Schoolmaster-his-family-killed-in-terrorist-attacks-in-Mosul

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600BC palace discovered under shrine demolished by ISIS in Mosul

March 20 2017 06:12 PM

Mosul ancient palace discovered

Archaeologists documenting ISIS destruction of the ruins of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah say they have made an unexpected discovery which could help in our understanding of the world’s first empire, the Telegraph reported.
 

The Nebi Yunus shrine - containing what Muslims and Christians believe to be the tomb of Jonah, as he was known in the Bible, or Yunus in the Koran - was blown up by ISIS militants soon after they seized huge swathes of northern Iraq in 2014.
 

The shrine is situated on top of a hill in eastern Mosul called Nebi Yunus - one of two mounds that form part of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.
 

While the king’s name is not visible on the cuneiform slab, a historian who has seen photographs of it says phrases are legible which were used only to describe him, in particular his rebuilding of Babylon after his father Sennacherib had it destroyed.
 

The palace was built for Sennacherib, renovated and expanded by Esarhaddon (681-669 BC), and renovated again by Ashurbanipal (669-627). It was partly destroyed during the Sack of Nineveh in 612 BC.
 

It is the first evidence of Isil’s use of tunneling in ancient grounds in their hunt for artefacts to plunder.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8401/600BC-palace-discovered-under-shrine-demolished-by-ISIS-in-Mosul

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi jets strike Tal Afar, Sinjar, dozens of ISIS terrorists killed

March 20 2017 08:53 PM

More terrorists killed

Dozens of affiliates of ISIS terror group on Monday were killed or injured in a major airstrike by the Iraqi air force on Sinjar and Tal Afar.

Iraqi air force has carried out several air raids on ISIS positions on the heels of receiving intelligence information, an Iraqi Defense Ministry statement said.

Up to 47 terrorists were killed and wounded, 5 booby-trapped vehicles were destroyed in the districts of Tal Afar and Sinjar, the statement added.

Army brigades, in partnership with intelligence, managed to kill 20 terrorists and destroy three booby-trapped cars in Tal Afar, it further noted.

Since ISIS spilled over in Syria and Iraq territories and imposed its self-styled caliphate in 2014, many world countries saw it urgent to stand up to that threat.

A coalition led by the US has been formed to fight ISIS, with a main mission from the air.

The terror group lost big swaths of ground since the coalition strikes began to bite.

Other countries such as Russia, Turkey and an alliance of Muslim countries are partaking in the fight against ISIS.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8408/Iraqi-jets-strike-Tal-Afar-Sinjar-dozens-of-ISIS-terrorists-killed

[tigergorzow]

Turkish aid agency helps 160,000 families in Iraq

March 20 2017 06:08 PM

Turkish aid agency helps 160,000 families in Iraq

The Turkish Red Crescent has sent humanitarian aid to around 160,000 displaced families in Iraq since ISIS terrorist group overran the northern city of Mosul in 2014, Anadolu Agency quoted a Turkish aid official as saying on Monday.
 

“We have delivered 463 trucks of humanitarian aid, brought from Turkey through 46 shipments, to nearly 160,000 families in 18 regions in Iraq,” Serdar Yilmaz, head of Turkish Red Crescent delegation in Iraq, said. 

He said the aid included food, clothes, hygiene kits and basic humanitarian materials. 

The Turkish Red Crescent has scaled up its humanitarian activities in Iraq since ISIS captured Mosul and other parts of northern and western Iraq in 2014. 

Yilmaz said the aid agency has distributed meat among 10,000 families in Iraq.

According to Yilmaz, the Turkish Red Crescent has been producing 5,000 breads per day as part of a “bakery project” in three tent camps near Erbil, which hosts thousands of people who have fled from Mosul. 

Yilmaz stressed that the Turkish aid agency also continues to reach needy people across Iraq. 

In mid-February, Iraqi army forces -- backed by a US-led air coalition -- began fresh operations aimed at purging remaining ISIS terrorists from Mosul’s western districts. 

The offensive comes as part of a wider operation launched last October to retake the entire city.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8400/Turkish-aid-agency-helps-160-000-families-in-Iraq

[tigergorzow]

Where are Mosul’s Detainees Going?

March 20 2017 07:30 PM

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Belkis Wille

In early October 2016, Human Rights Watch warned of the dire human rights consequences that could result if the Popular Mobilization Forces (known as the PMF or Hashd al-Sha'abi) participated in screenings of men and boys fleeing Mosul for suspected involvement with ISIS, Belkis Wille wrote in a commentary published by hrw.org.  

Given these groups’ lack of training in screening, the irregular nature of their screenings and detentions, and the detainees’ lack of contact with the outside world once in their custody, any men or boys detained as part of these screenings would be at heightened risk of abuse, including arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. Indeed during the Falluja battle, we saw the horrific, indeed fatal, results of screenings and detention by the Popular Mobilization Forces. 

Before the battle for Mosul began, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made private commitments in meetings with diplomats that he would keep the PMF out of Mosul, and out of the screening process. But in February 2017, we found the PMF carrying out informal screenings of civilians fleeing the city, and in some cases detaining people on suspicion of ISIS-affiliation.  

When our report came out about that, Prime Minister al-Abadi once again privately made a commitment to diplomats that this would stop immediately. But, we continue to see evidence of the PMF screening men and boys fleeing Mosul. 

On March 12, 2017, I spoke to three men who had escaped the city on March 9 via a road leading west, out of the city. They said that their first encounter with Iraqi forces was an informal screening site run by 10 to 15 PMF fighters six kilometers down the road, at an abandoned quarry. Officers who identified themselves as members of the PMF, wearing PMF badges, sitting inside two mini-buses, took the men’s identity cards from the open side door and ran their names through the databases they had on a laptop and iPad, the men said. The PMF officers also used a masked “informant” to point out arrivals who allegedly had links to ISIS. The men said that they could tell from their accents that these PMF forces were from southern Iraq. They said the PMF officers detained several men at the screening site and that they saw the officers take the men away. No other Iraqi security forces were present, they said. 

An observer at the same screening site on March 11, 2017 said that three PMF groups were there: Hezbollah Brigades, al-Abbas Brigades, and Imam Ali Battalions. The observer said a self-identified Imam Ali battalion officer detained one man, and asked the forces where the person would be taken. The observer got a range of responses. 

An Imam Ali fighter said they had detained at least 10 men over the previous two days, and handed them all over to the Iraqi army. Two other officers, including one in control of the detainee at the time, said they would be transporting him straight to judicial authorities in Baghdad. A third man who identified himself as a representative of the Directorate of General Security said that the PMF handed any detainees over to his forces. The now defunct Directorate of General Security was an intelligence force under Saddam Hussein, and two experts in Baghdad told Human Rights Watch that they had not heard of such a body currently functioning. 

The range of responses signals an utter lack of coordination, and raises serious concerns of where detainees are being held, by whom, and under what conditions and authority.

For its part, the PMF continues to publicly deny that it is conducting screenings in the Mosul operation. Following our report in February 2017, the PMF Commission issued a statement denying that their forces screened or detained anyone. They said that they hand over captured ISIS suspects to state security forces with a mandate to screen. But in a meeting on February 6, a PMF Commission representative admitted to us that in limited circumstances they do detain people captured on the battlefield for at least short periods before transferring them to authorities with a detention mandate. One man whom PMF had detained for eight days, and an aid worker, confirmed that. 

In February 2017, a parliament member in Baghdad and the PMF Commission representative also said that not only was the PMF detaining people, but that it was taking them to Baghdad and before a PMF-dedicated judge. A spokesman for the High Judicial Council in Baghdad told us a year ago that there was a specialized PMF court established in late 2014 or early 2015 with a specific judge to try abuses committed by the PMF, akin to a military court. It would be a source of particular concern if the PMF are now taking men they capture, including civilians, before this body.

The PMF have no legal authority to detain anyone in Iraq, and Prime Minister al-Abadi should make it crystal clear to them and to the public that they should stop all screening and detention. Anyone responsible for unlawful detention should be prosecuted. Coalition partners supporting Iraqi forces in the battle against ISIS should report on any continued PMF screenings or detentions that their forces witness, and urge Baghdad to end the practice.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/8405/Where-are-Mosul-s-Detainees-Going