Focus turns to rebuilding Mosul

Iraqi soldiers fight remnants of jihadist forces in devastated city but battle near end

IRAQI forces fought to eliminate the last pockets of Islamic State group resistance in Mosul yesterday after the premier visited the devastated city on Sunday to congratulate troops on securing a major victory.

With the jihadists surrounded in a sliver of territory in Mosul’s Old City, attention was turning to the huge task of rebuilding the city and helping civilians, with aid groups warning that Iraq’s humanitarian crisis was far from over.

The Old City, in particular, has been devastated.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that while victory was certain, he was holding off on making a formal declaration “out of my respect and appreciation for our . . . forces that are continuing the clearing operation”.

A senior commander said yesterday that Iraqi forces were engaged in heavy fighting with the remnants of jihadist forces but that the battle was near its end.

Lieutenant-General Sami al-Aridhi, of the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, said the jihadists had been reduced to an area of the Old City of about 200m by 100m.

“They do not accept to surrender,” Aridhi said.

But operations were in their final stages.

Aridhi said his forces had information that there were between 3 000 and 4 000 civilians in the area. That could not be independently confirmed.

Backed by the US-led coalition battling IS, Iraqi forces launched their campaign in October to retake Mosul, which was seized by the jihadists during the mid-2014 offensive that saw them take control of large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

Army, police and special forces, backed by waves of US-led air strikes, seized the eastern side of the city in January and launched the battle for its western part the next month.

The fight grew tougher when security forces entered the densely populated Old City on the western bank of the Tigris River, which divides the city, and intense street-to-street fighting followed.

The cost of victory has been enormous – much of Mosul in ruins, thousands dead and wounded, and nearly half the city’s population forced from their homes. The United Nations has said 920 000 people fled their homes during the Mosul operation, and the vast majority remain displaced.

“It’s a relief to know the military campaign in Mosul is ending. The fighting may be over, but the humanitarian crisis is not,” the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande, said.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it could be many months before civilians were able to return home.

Twenty-eight aid groups working in Iraq called for international support for rebuilding efforts and urged authorities not to press civilians to return.

“Remaining insecurity, lack of basic services. explosive hazards contamination and damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure – including schools and hospitals -– all continue to pose barriers to return,” a statement signed by groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Save the Children, said.

It also raised concerns for the about 150 000 Iraqi civilians still in areas under IS control in the country.

France, Britain and the European Union congratulated Iraqi forces on Sunday, with the EU hailing a decisive step in the campaign to eliminate terrorist control in parts of Iraq.

Iran, a key ally of Abadi’s Shiite-led government, gave its congratulations too and offered help in rebuilding.

The IS has lost most of the territory it once controlled.