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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Australia: 2 Teenagers arrested after alleged IS Terror Attack

According to a police statement released on Thursday, officers arrested two 16-year-old boys in Sydney due to suspicious acts of terror. The authorities also charged the teenagers as being part of the Islamic State terrorist group. Two knives were found during the incident.

The officers did not disclose the identity of the two teenagers due to their age.

The teenagers declined the bail charges and will stand before the Parramatta Children’s Court in Sydney later the same day.

Catherine Burn, the acting New South Wales Police Commissioner said, “The fact we are putting two teenagers before the court on such serious charges reflects the ongoing threat we face. Fortunately, the excellent cooperation between State and Federal agencies has prevented a very disturbing crime,”

It is the latest terrorism-related incident in Australia.

Increased incidents of terrorist activity

In September, police arrested a 22-year-old for committing a terrorist act and attempted murder. The suspect stabbed a man walking through a nature reserve “a number of times.”

Earlier this year, New South Wales police arrested a 16-year-old boy in Sydney. Authorities suspect him of plotting a terror attack on an Anzac Day ceremony.

In 2014, self-styled cleric Haron Monis held several people hostage at a Sydney coffee shop, ultimately killing two of them.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott described Monis as “a deeply disturbed individual (with) a long history of crime, a long history of mental instability and infatuation with extremism,” adding that he “sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the (ISIS) death cult.”

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