Iraq launches ground offensive to dislodge Daesh from Mosul
baghdad/south of mosul — US-backed Iraqi forces on Sunday launched a ground offensive to dislodge Daesh militants from their remaining stronghold in Mosul, in the western part of the city, and put an end to their ambitions for territorial rule in Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi announced the start of the offensive, asking Iraqi forces to “respect human rights” during the battle and to take care of those displaced by the fighting.
Daesh militants are essentially under siege in western Mosul, along with an estimated 650,000 civilians.
Up to 400,000 civilians could be displaced by the offensive as residents of western Mosul suffer food and fuel shortages and markets are closed, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande said on Saturday.
Iraqi federal police units are leading a northward charge on the Mosul districts that lie west of the Tigris river, aiming to capture Mosul airport, just south of the city, according to statements from the armed forces joint command.
They captured several villages and a local power distribution station in the first hours and killed several militants including snipers, the statements said.
The police are advancing up the Tigris river valley towards the airport, whilst the Rapid Response, an elite Interior Ministry unit, cut across more open terrain to the southwest.
“Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world,” the commander of the US-led coalition forces, Lt-Gen. Stephen Townsend, said in a statement.
Commanders expect the battle to be more difficult than in the east because tanks and armoured vehicles cannot pass through its narrow alleyways.
The militants have developed a network of passageways and tunnels to enable them to hide and fight among civilians, disappear after hit-and-run operations and track government troop movements, according to residents.
Western Mosul contains the old city centre, with its ancient souks, Grand Mosque and most government administrative buildings.
Daesh was thought to have up to 6,000 fighters in Mosul when the government’s offensive started in mid-October. Of those, more than 1,000 have been killed, according to Iraqi estimates.
The remainder now face a 100,000-strong force made up of Iraqi armed forces, including elite paratroopers and police, Kurdish forces and Iranian-trained Shia paramilitary groups.
The westward road that links the city to Syria was cut in November by the Shia paramilitary known as Popular Mobilisation. —