International coalition: 300 fighters in the old Mosul are blocking the resolution of the battle




2017/06/21 (00:01 PM) - Number of readings: 101 - Number (3955)

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Militants have been jostling people in the historic Old City west of Mosul in their homes to prevent them from escaping as the last 300 militants fight to death in defense of what was once their biggest stronghold.

"This is the last chapter," said Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, commander of anti-terrorism forces in Mosul, but added that fighting from one house to another in narrow streets was not an easy task.

On Sunday, Iraqi forces began an incursion into the old city in western Mosul, the last remaining insurgent stronghold in Iraq's second-largest city, after an eight-month military operation.

The historic neighborhood of narrow alleyways is the last enclave controlled by terrorist elements, but the battle for liberating the city - the crown jewel of the so-called caliphate - is long and bloody.

The storming of the old city in the west of Mosul, where narrow alleys and adjacent buildings, is a major advance to the military campaign launched by Iraqi forces months ago to restore the entire city of Mosul, the last stronghold of a preacher in Iraq.

Iraqi forces began last October the largest military operation in Iraq in years, to regain control of Mosul. It resumed the eastern part of the city in January and launched Operation West in February.

Several humanitarian organizations expressed concern at civilians at risk of being caught between violent fighting.

"The operation is now street fighting," said Sabah al-Nu'man, a spokesman for the elite counterterrorism forces, adding that air strikes and artillery would be limited due to overcrowding in the area and poor buildings.

Initially, Iraqi and US forces hoped the operation would end at the end of last year, but fierce fighting by insurgents - hundreds of whom were killed in suicide bombings or killed in defense of their positions - has slowed the process.

During the nine months of fighting, some 850,000 civilians fled their homes and thousands more were killed as a result of aerial bombardment of the coalition and with the help of armed supporters. The coalition now believes that fewer than 300 militants are trapped in the Old City, but in their grip hundreds of thousands of civilians use them as human shields at a time of serious shortages of food, water and medical supplies.

Iraqi forces have asked civilians to flee, but sniper snipers, bombs and air strikes make the trip to safety very dangerous.

Over the past three weeks, the number of casualties has increased because Iraqi forces can not secure safe exit corridors, where snipers have killed some 230 civilians trying to cross the Tigris in small boats, the UN said.

Those who have managed to reach the liberated areas or camps for the displaced tell of families trapped in their houses where the gunmen have closed doors and windows to prevent them from escaping.

Save the Children said in a statement on Sunday that "about 50 thousand children are in serious danger as the battle of Mosul, the most bloody stages to date." The liberation of Mosul is associated with the restoration of the Syrian city of Raqqa.
With insurgents fighting to death and not yielding, it is likely that they will use 220,000 people as human shields.

"We have seen the coalition use very high concentrations of firepower in densely populated areas of Mosul, and our concern for tenderness is very high," says Chris Woods of Air Wars, which monitors coalition strikes in Syria and Iraq.
عن About: Independent

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