Iraqi forces closing in on Mosul for key ISIS battle
Iraqi forces closing in on Mosul for key ISIS battle:- The Iraqi army’s armored division is closing in on the outskirts of Mosul after sweeping through enemy-controlled land in the past 48 hours, liberating communities village by village, the division’s commander told CNN Wednesday, as the operation to liberate Mosul from the grip of ISIS militants intensifies.
But the Iraqi-led coalition that began the long-awaited offensive on Monday has faced fierce resistance by ISIS in some areas.
Latest developments
Lt Gen Qassim al-Maliki, commander of the Iraqi 9th armored division, told CNN that in the past 48 hours:
- The armored division has advanced; it is now three to four miles from the outskirts of Mosul
- Three brigades have liberated 13 villages to north and northeast of Quwayr
- At least 50 ISIS militants and two Iraqi soldiers have been killed, and 25 soldiers are injured
- Dozens of suicide vehicles and a large number of IEDS have been destroyed
But another Iraqi military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that Iraqi units fighting around the village of Al Absi have been surrounded by ISIS fighters. Al Absi is near Nimrud, 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Mosul. The area has seen heavy fighting in the last 36 hours.
Edging closer
“Today we’ve liberated the village of Kani Harami after intense fighting and inflict big losses in Daesh ranks,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
“The forces now are dealing with small pockets of Daesh members hiding in makeshift tunnels. Many Daesh militants pulled back to the Abassiya village. My forces captured two Iraqi national Daesh members in Kani Harami.”
He said that the division is closing in on Mosul, and is only around three to four miles (five to six kilometers) from the city’s outskirts. He added that progress has been slowed by the need to leave protective forces to hold the ground liberated from the jihadists.
He said that in the two days since the operation to liberate Iraq’s second-biggest city — currently the last remaining major ISIS stronghold in Iraq — began, two Iraqi soldiers had been killed, and a further 25 wounded.
Al-Maliki’s acknowledgment that progress is being impeded reflects comments made earlier by Sirwan Barzani, a Peshmerga military commander, who told CNN that the battle to recapture Mosul from ISIS could take two months.
Barzani said it would likely take two weeks for advancing forces to enter the city. Iraq’s leaders have said that only Iraqi government troops and national police officers will be allowed to do so amid fears of sectarian retribution, he said.
A 94,000-member coalition which includes Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga allies and thousands of irregulars from various minorities are involved in the operation to free Mosul from more than two years of ISIS rule.
The coalition vastly outnumbers its opponents, but ISIS, which has known the push was coming, has constructed elaborate defenses, including a network of tunnels. Coalition forces will also likely face suicide bombs, car bombs and booby traps.
A CNN team encountered about 200 people, including dozens of children, who had left their homes in the village of Al-Adla, which is about 31 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Mosul, near the Great Zab River, fearful of an ISIS counterattack. It had earlier been cleared of militant control by the 9th armored division.
Families, clustered behind a sand berm, had been trapped in their village since ISIS occupied it more than two years ago.
