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Iraqi forces battle Islamic State near Tigris river in Mosul
 [REUTERS] Iraqi special forces battled Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... murderous Moslems in districts near the Tigris river in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... on Monday as they sought to bring more of the east of the city back under government control. The latest festivities occurred in the neighboring Shurta and Andalus districts. At least three Islamic State suicide boom-mobiles targeted Iraqi forces in Andalus. There was no immediate word on any casualties. In an online post, Islamic State said it had carried out a "martyrdom operation" in the area. Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) said the holy warriors, who seized Mosul in 2014 as they swept across much of northern Iraq, only to since lose much of that terrain to government counter-offensives, were fighting back hard. "We've begun breaching (Shurta) but there was an attack a few moments ago. By the end of the day we'll make some progress," CTS front man Sabah al-Numan said. Shurta and Andalus are situated close to the eastern bank of the Tigris, separated only by some woodland, and within sight of the city's northernmost bridge across the river. Iraqi forces, which have reached three of the five bridges, say they will soon fully control the eastern bank. They have already taken areas of the river bank further south. Once the east bank is recaptured, they can begin attacks on western Mosul, which the Sunni Moslem myrmidon snuffies still hold. Iraqi forces have seized most of the east in a 3-month-old U.S.-backed campaign to oust the murderous Moslems from Iraq's second largest city, Islamic State's last major Iraqi stronghold. The Tigris bisects Mosul from north to south. A Rooters cameraman in a southern district along the Tigris said snipers from elite interior ministry combat units were firing across the river at Islamic State positions. Fighting has intensified since the turn of the year as Iraqi forces have renewed an offensive against the ultra-hardline holy warriors. Troops had got bogged down in late November and December after entering Mosul as IS fighters fought back with boom-mobiles and snipers, and concealed themselves among a civilian population of up to 1.5 million. Posted by: Fred 2017-01-17 |
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