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Iraq has never seen this kind of fighting in battles with ISIS
[WaPoo] Since pushing into Mosul a week ago, Iraqi commanders say their forces have been shaken by some of the most complex fighting they have ever encountered in battles against the Islamic State.It is a bitter fight: street to street, house to house, with the presence of civilians slowing the advancing forces. Car bombs — the militants’ main weapon — speed out of garages and straight into advancing military convoys. “If there were no civilians, we’d just burn it all,” said Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridhi, a counterterrorism commander. He was forced to temporarily pause operations in his sector Monday because too many families were clogging the street. “I couldn’t bomb with artillery or tanks, or heavy weapons. I said, ‘We can’t do anything.’ ”
Militants wait to move between fighting positions until people fill the streets, using their presence as protection from airstrikes. “They always keep them with them,” Aridhi said. Other officers said the militants occasionally let a flood of people flee as a method of forcing a pause in the fight. At their base on the outskirts of the city, Iraqi counterterrorism troops call in airstrikes where they can, radioing to report militant positions and suicide bombers. Two French advisers sit nearby watching surveillance feeds of the city’s streets. The voice of a field commander crackled through the radio. “These civilians are making me tired,” he said. “They are coming from everywhere. We don’t know if they are fighters or civilians. They are carrying bags — we don’t know what’s inside.” Col. Arkan Fadhil calls in airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, but they are less forthcoming than in previous battles because of the presence of families, and are used only to defend Iraqi forces rather than backing them when they attack. “You’ve got less than 10 meters to engage, so you shoot and cross your fingers,” said Fadhil. Low-ranking officers in the field made some mistakes, he said, such as pushing forward without waiting for other units or without properly clearing and securing areas, later getting ambushed and becoming surrounded and trapped. Since the pitched battles of Nov. 4, the counterterrorism troops have adjusted their pace.
As the battle drags on, thousands of civilians trapped inside Mosul are risking their lives to escape, making their way across the battlefield in small groups carrying white flags. They describe the defenses that the Islamic State has built in its neighborhoods — tunnels, concrete barriers, car bombs. “They are in the apartments,” said one 64-year-old woman as she reached the security forces. “They aren’t allowing anyone to leave. They have car bombs there.” “In the apartments and where else?” asked an Iraqi counterterrorism officer as the woman was handed water and food. “All of Mosul,” she replied. Posted by: Pappy 2016-11-13 |
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