Iraqi Army units have for the first time managed to enter one of the districts of Islamic State stronghold Mosul, following a two-week military operation aimed at clearing areas surrounding the city and ousting the terrorists.
The Iraqi Army and allied militias backed by the US-led coalition entered the Karama district of Mosul on Monday, an Iraqi officer reported, according to Reuters. This marks the first significant achievement in the advance into the city.
“They have entered Mosul. They are fighting now in Hay [district] al-Karama,” General Wissam Araji of the US-trained Counter Terrorism Service said, according to Reuters.
The battle for Mosul is expected to take weeks or even months.
“The battle of Mosul will not be a picnic. We are prepared for the battle of Mosul even if it lasts for months,” said Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, the largest Shiite militia supporting Iraqi government forces, Reuters reported.
Comment: PM Abadi gave his war cry as the battle began: “God willing, we will chop off the snake’s head,” Abadi said. “They have no escape, they either die or surrender”.
Dozens of Iraqi military vehicles nearing Mosul from the east can be seen in a Ruptly drone video, posted October 31.
The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service was on its way to Gogjali, an industrial zone, located 1km east of Mosul, and could enter it later on Monday, an officer of the US-trained troops told Reuters.
While Iraqi troops advanced in the south, in the north of Mosul five villages were cleared of jihadists with the help of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, military statements said.
Pro-Iranian Iraqi Shiite militias, which joined the operation on Saturday, are to cut the route between Mosul and Raqqa, the unofficial capital of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.
The number of civilians – some 1.5 million people – still living in Mosul has raised concerns amid aid groups worried about their safety when intense fighting starts.
Hundreds of residents have already been executed or used as human shields by IS militants, according to reports cited by the UN.
Comment: Not just residents – IS us turning on its own. The latest report:
The Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) group has executed 50 of its own members after they fled their positions on the outskirts of Mosul amid a military operation to retake the last stronghold of the terrorists in Iraq, local media reported Monday. According to the Alsumaria broadcaster citing its sources, all the accused were charged with apostasy. The execution was carried out in a military camp to the west of Mosul. The executed Daesh members were refugees from other parts of Iraq and were not Daesh “fanatics,” the sources said, adding that they had once joined Daesh ranks threatened with death. The Daesh militants also reportedly cut off ears of at least 20 other members of the group, including two citizens of China and France, who attempted to flee the Mosul battleground.
The forces storming Mosul include thousands of ex-residents. One, 26yo Ali Zeyd, told Sputnik he escaped a year ago, after having been “repeatedly tortured and humiliated by the jihadists.” Another, Herhat Ferec, a Mosul native, fled 2.5 years ago to Peshmerga positions. He told Sputnik:
“…I did not give up hope in escaping Mosul, because life under the yoke of the jihadists was simply unbearable. We lived every day as if it was our last – you could never feel safe. The militants were constantly saying that we must join the jihad.”
Experts say the recapture of Iraq’s second-biggest city is expected to strike a heavy blow to the terrorist group.
Mosul, the self-proclaimed capital of Islamic State in Iraq, came under the control of terrorists back in 2014. The Iraqi Army, along with a number of local militias, started the offensive to retake the city on October 17. Some 30,000 soldiers and militiamen backed by the US-led international coalition are taking part in the advance.
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