Forces close in on Tigris in IS stronghold Mosul
Iraqi special forces closed in on the Tigris river that runs through central Mosul yesterday, advancing in parallel with other troops and forcing Islamic State to retreat in its last major stronghold in the country. Islamic State has been driven out of more than half the areas it held east of the Tigris river, which bisects the city, but is still in control of the west. It will be harder for the militants to defend Mosul once Iraqi forces reach the river.
The battle for the city has yet to be won but is beginning to make quicker progress. Iraqi counter-terrorism forces pushed to within several hundred meters of the Tigris and a strategic bridge on Saturday, the closest they have been, after staging an unprecedented nighttime assault the day before in a nearby district, a spokesman said. Advances in recent days have driven militants out of several additional areas east of the river.
The counter-terrorism service (CTS) spokesman said new tactics and better coordination were helping. “Counter-terrorism forces have been sent about 500 metres from the fourth bridge,” Sabah Al-Numan told reporters east of Mosul. A coalition spokesman said on Twitter that Islamic State had damaged the fourth bridge in a “desperate act” as they lost ground. The bridge has already been hit by U\S-led air strikes to prevent the militants sending reinforcements across the city.
CTS seized the Ghufran district, also known as Al-Baath, and entered adjacent Wahda, Numan said. A separate military statement said Iraqi federal police had recaptured a hospital complex in Wahda in southeastern Mosul, a significant turnaround after U.S.-backed army units were forced to withdraw from the site last month under fierce counter-attacks from Islamic State. CTS and federal police “are now moving in parallel on both axes” in southeastern Mosul, Numan said.
“We are proceeding side by side ... and advancing at the same level. This is a very important factor, thanks to which Daesh (Islamic State) has not been able to move its fighters. It has to support one axis (front) at the expense of another.” “We have worn down the terrorist organization with this type of advance.” Senior CTS commanders met yesterday at a makeshift outpost in eastern Mosul where life in areas recaptured from Islamic State is slowly returning to normal despite heavy damage to homes and infrastructure. Residents lined the streets and vendors sold produce, eggs and meat in areas where clashes raged just a few weeks earlier.