Battle for Mosul Gains Ground as Iraqi Forces Enter the City

On Monday, Iraqi troops broke through ISIS lines of defense in the eastern suburb of Mosul. For the first time, the advancing Iraqi forces entered the city, taking the battle to the terrorists’ doorstep.

The breakthrough is considered the largest military operation since Saddam Hussein’s capture in 2003. The Iraqi forces supported by Washington entered the city of Mosul. Iraqi commanders said the battle to retake the city could take months.

Iraqi’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) troops advanced on Gogjali, an industrial zone on the eastern part of Mosul.

CTS commander Lieutenant-General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi said in an interview conducted by a state television that his forces had reached the Karama district inside the insurgent’s occupied city.

Kurdish Peshmerga Intelligence said they have received reports saying 7 ISIS militants were killed in the district of Aden, 2 of their vehicles were also destroyed.

An Iraqi state television also reported that residents of the city were rising up against the Islamic state fighters. Some of these mutineers allegedly opened fired on an Islamic State Police unit in Intisaar district, in Karama.

No one has confirmed the “uprising reports” but the Iraqi forces and its U.S. allies are hoping this insurrection could help them retake the city. ISIS seized Mosul in 2014 declaring it as a “Caliphate” to rule over all Muslims.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the Iraqi forces are now closing off all routes going out Mosul, to avoid thousands of ISIS fighters escaping from the city.
“God willing, we will chop off the snake’s head,” he added.

“They have no escape, they either die or surrender.”

Last October 17, the Iraqi Forces joined by Kurdish Peshmerga Fighters started their offensive against the Islamic State fighters. They were provided with ground and air support from a U.S. led anti-ISIS coalition.

U.S. anti-ISIS coalition deputy commander, British Major General Rupert Jones told Reuters, “They are making deliberate progress, they’re on their timeline.”

Anti-Islamic state fighters ranging about 50,000 troops are now storming the city’s outskirts as they strategically enter Mosul.

The Islamic State forces have been avoiding a direct fight with any militants advancing into the city. Instead, they are sending suicide cars, deploying snipers and mortars.

On Monday, the Islamic State said they have carried out “suicide operations” against the advancing forces. However, they failed to mention any casualty.

U.N. officials and some villagers said the terrorist group brought thousands of displaced civilians toward Mosul. The militants were using them as “human shields” to cover their retreat.

They also have set some properties on fire to create a ‘smokescreen,’ setting the whole region on smoke.

U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, “the scorched earth tactics employed by retreating ISIL members are having an immediate health impact on civilians, and risk long-term environmental and health consequences.”

No one from both forces has given any number of casualty, but both claim they have killed thousands of their opponents.

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Iraq City of Kirkuk, Power Plant Stormed by IS Fighters

Islamic State fighters equipped with assault rifles and explosives attacked targets in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk early on Friday. The attack is possibly aimed at redirecting authorities’ attention for the battle to recapture IS-held Mosul.

More than 11 workers, two of them Iranians, were killed when IS militants captured a power plant north of Kirkuk and then blew themselves up.

Witnesses said in Kirkuk that several explosions rocked the city and gun battles were ongoing. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity as they were concerned for their safety. Most of the fighting was focused on a government complex in the city.

IS said its fighters were behind the assault, which the extremist group said was aimed at the Iraqi government. The statement was conveyed by the IS-run Aamaq news agency and could not immediately be confirmed.

Local Kurdish television channel Rudaw aired footage showing black smoke climbing over the city while prolonged bursts of automatic gunfire rang out. It cited Kirkuk Gov. Najmadin Karim as stating that the militants have not taken control of any government buildings.

Meanwhile, three IS suicide bombers stormed a power plant in Dibis, a town north of Kirkuk, and took 10 workers hostage, said Maj. Ahmed Kader Ali.

The assailants demanded to be taken to the Iranians who work at the plant. One of the workers brought them to the Iranians before fleeing. The militants then executed the Iranians and the other workers, and set off their explosive vests when police arrived.

Kirkuk is about 170 kilometers (100 miles) from the IS-held city of Mosul, where Iraqi troops have been engaged in a large-scale offensive since Monday.

The city is around 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul. It is claimed by both Kurdish region and Iraq’s central government. It has long been a hotspot for conflict and has been the setting of several attacks by Islamic State militants.

Rudaw TV said later Friday that all IS fighters who participated in the attack on Kirkuk had been killed save for two who were secluded in a newly built hotel which was damaged in the attack.

There was no immediate word on fatalities among civilians or Kurdish troops in Kirkuk. Also, the TV report could not immediately be impartially verified.

A town where a Kurdish peshmerga base is located outside the city also came under fire early on Friday. Kemal Kerkuki, a senior commander of Kurdish peshmerga forces west of Kirkuk, said the base is now under control.

IS retains sleeper cells in Kirkuk and the surrounding villages, Kerkuki said. He added that a group of IS fighters attempted to attack a power station in Dibis village west of Kirkuk with light weapons and a suicide bomber.

IS also claimed an assault on the power station. It said that its fighters had attacked the facility and killed all security forces posted there.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing

Kerkuki said he believes the attackers gained access to Kirkuk masquerading as evacuated civilians. The city has taken in several thousands of displaced people from nearby provinces. This started when IS initially invaded broad stretches of northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014.

“Many of (the displaced civilians), I’m sure they are working with ISIS,” Kerkuki said. “We arrested one recently and he confessed (he was part of a sleeper cell).”

Iraqi and Kurdish forces supported by U.S.-led coalition began a multi-pronged offensive this week to take back Mosul and neighboring areas from IS. The operation is the most extensive undertaken by the Iraqi military since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Iraqi officials said they had progressed as far as the town of Bartella, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Mosul’s borders, by Thursday.

 

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Kurds Begin Large-Scale Assault in Mosul

As an assault to drive out so-called Islami State militants from Mosul continues, Kurdish fighters say they have started a large-scale operation north and east of the Iraqi city.

The Kurds say the plan is to tighten the noose around the militant’s last key stronghold in Iraq.

The Special Forces have now joined the offensive as the Iraqi army has been moving from the south.

The US military says there are indications that IS leaders have fled Mosul.

Nevertheless, there are an estimated 5,000 IS fighters still in the city.

The Kurdish Peshmerga forces said their campaign was on three fronts. They also followed recent advances by both the Kurds and the Iraqi security forces in the area.

The statement said that the intentions are to clear some of the nearby villages. This action will give them control of strategic sites to further constrain ISIL’s (IS) movements.

Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces joined the assault on Thursday, Iraqi Major General Maan al-Saadi said. They made a pre-dawn advance on the nearby town of Bartalla.

The special forces were backed by air strikes performed by a US-led coalition.

General Gary Volesky said earlier that they’ve seen movement out of Mosul and that they got signs that leaders have left. The American general, however, did not specify who had fled, nor did he state where they had gone.

The whereabouts of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are not known. Some accounts say he is in Mosul while others say he has escaped the northern Iraqi city.

BBC Middle East analyst Alan Johnston says it is likely that any fighters leaving the city had simply been heading to the front line areas, which still lie beyond the outskirts.

Nobody has any reservations that a die-hard IS militant would stay in the city and fight for it, the correspondent adds.

General Volesky said that foreign fighters are expected to form the bulk of the force who will hold out. The general heads the land component of the US-led coalition battling IS.

Save the Children charity asserts that 5,000 people from the conflict zone have fled to a refugee camp over the Syrian border in the last 10 days. There are 1,000 more waiting at the border.

UN camps ready to receive in excess of 200,000 Mosul refugees

Refugee camps are being set up in the south, north and east of Mosul in provision for an inflow of people fleeing the city. The UN says it anticipates more than 200,000 in the coming days and weeks.

An estimated 1.5 million civilians are believed to still be in Mosul. Those inside reported that IS was stopping them from departing the city and that they were running out of basic necessities.

Mosul has been under IS control since 2014. It is the militant group’s last major Iraqi stronghold.

The attack to retake the city started on Monday as the advancing forces seized several villages on the city’s borders ahead of a final push.

However, with IS fighters seeming to be putting up unyielding resistance in places, progress is expected to be slow.

There are also threats that the group could use chemical weapons or human shields.

With these challenges, it could be months before the city is liberated.

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Singapore Defense Chief Warns of Threats From Extremist Groups

Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Friday that violent extremist groups represents a grave threat to Southeast Asia. Moreover, he believed that these groups are growing each year, becoming more organized and focusing on their objectives.

Ng gave his statement during the meeting of Southeast Asian defense ministers in Hawaii. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter was also present in the meeting. Ministers dedicated a lot of time discussing threats from Islamic State and similar groups.

According to Ng, over 1,000 Southeast Asians assembled to join the Islamic State’s self-declared “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. He also said, “Every year we meet, the situation and threat from extremist terrorism rises. Ng added, “Compared to, say, a year or even two years ago, they’re more organized…they’re more networked, they’re more clear in their articulation of what they want to achieve.”

A statement from security officials in June said Southeast Asian militants claimed to fight for Islamic State. These militants have chosen an individual from within the region to lead the group. The Philippines considers this regional faction head as one of their most wanted terrorists.

Jakarta bombing

Since the bombing last January in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, regional authorities reinforced heightened security. The Islamic State claimed the attack which killed eight people including for attackers.

Ng mentioned of a foiled plan concocted by an Indonesian faction to strike at hotels in Singapore’s Marina Bay area. The Indonesian militants maintained coordination with an Islamic State member in Syria. However, It was averted with the help of Indonesian authorities. Ng said, “They have gone beyond networks to push the flow of funds, weapons. They are already plotting”.

Dreaded homecoming

Hundreds of citizens from Southeast Asia joined the Islamic State in their battles in Iraq and Syria. US Defense officials believed they have returned home, raising concerns to launch a rash of attacks.

The US is currently conducting an air campaign to displace the Islamic State from Iraq and Syria. Ng believed destroying its base would lead to a short term increase of regional attacks. Subsequently, seasoned Islamic State fighters would likely return home.

Ng said, “They would decide to come back, some re-energized, some trained and the networks would still be existing”.

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