Tag: iraq

Mosul offensive: ISIS fighters believed to have massacred scores of civilians inside the besieged city

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Military observers on the ground around the besieged city of Mosul in Iraq report a large number of civilian casualties, allegedly inflicted by ISIS militia.

The bodies of at least 120 civilians have been discovered inside houses and in shallow graves, most of them with multiple gunshot wounds. It remains unclear which faction carried out the killings, however.

Some 5,000-6,000 were dug in around Mosul at the outset of the battle. Vastly outnumbered by a coalition of around 90,000, ISIS militias have sustained heavy losses since the start of the offensive, though they are fighting doggedly to retain control. The bitter struggle for the city is thought to be ISIS’ last stand in Iraq.

The jihadi fighters have mined all access to the city with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and laid booby traps all over, creating a hazardous environment indeed.

Specialist engineering teams are on the ground, but progress is slow, and clearing has to be done house by house.

US-Iraqi forces take positions around Mosul in preparation for ground assault against ISIS

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The city of Mosul stands on the banks of the Tigris River as it runs through northern Iraq. It once was a prosperous industry and transportation hub, producing marble and oil. Crucially, the city has huge strategic value, as it controls a highway that runs to the border with Syria and its second city, Aleppo.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Mosul remained under the control of troops loyal to Saddam Hussein until April of that year, when the local garrison fled. Uday and Qusay Hussein, the dictator’s sons, were killed during a shootout with Coalition forces in July.

Civilian US contractors moved in after Mosul was secured and implemented an extensive programme to rebuild the city’s infrastructure, which had been largely destroyed during fighting.

The rise of ISIS in subsequent years brought widespread turmoil and unrest to Iraq, and many intellectuals, engineers, journalists, and other people of significance were either killed or forced to leave.

ISIS took full control of the city in June 2014, forcing the evacuation of up to half a million people. The extremist organization systematically massacred the scattered remnants of the Iraqi army, seizing large amounts of US-manufactured weapons and equipment in the process.

Mosul has remained in ISIS hands ever since. Now, a coalition of US and Iraqi forces is preparing to mount a large-scale ground offensive in an effort to drive ISIS out of the city for good.

There is a perception that ISIS are on the backfoot, and that their morale is waning in the wake of recent surgical drone strikes that have taken out key tier one personnel within the organization.

President Obama has authorized dispatching 600 extra troops to the area, thus increasing the number of US forces on the ground to just over 5,200. Though a significant number, it’s still a far cry from the 170,000-strong US army present in Iraq during the height of the conflict in 2003.

The ground offensive is expected to begin in the next few weeks.