Seven Iraqi police killed in ISIL attack
Civilians among 17 wounded when the driver of a vehicle sets off explosives at a checkpoint near the southern Najaf city
MOSUL // Seven Iraqi policemen were killed yesterday in an ISILclaimed attack on a checkpoint near the southern city of Najaf.
The assault took place as government forces in the north made more gains against the extremists in Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq.
Seventeen people, including civilians, were also wounded when two vehicles travelling through the desert were stopped at a police checkpoint around Al Qadisiya town, police said.
The driver detonated an explosive and the second vehicle fled. Police went in pursuit and killed the two militants in the vehicle.
ISIL claimed that four gunmen opened fire before detonating explosive vests and then a fifth assailant set off a suicide car bomb.
The attack, about 500 kilometres south of Mosul, followed blasts on Saturday in Baghdad that killed 29 people, a reminder of ISIL’s continued ability to operate far from territory under its control. The recapture of Mosul may spell the end for the group’s selfstyled caliphate in areas that it seized in 2014, but the militants would still be capable of fighting a guerrilla-style insurgency in Iraq, and plotting or inspiring attacks on the West.
Since the US- backed offensive began on October 17 last year, elite forces have retaken a quarter of Mosul in the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the United States-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi said ISIL would be driven out of the country by April.
The second phase of the campaign launched on Thursday after weeks of deadlock has pushed ISIL out of several more areas despite its fierce resistance.
The fourth day of the renewed push saw incremental advances on the eastern and south-eastern fronts.
The military said the counterterrorism forces had retaken part of Karama district, while a federal police officer at a forward base in Intisar said Iraqi forces had near total control of the neighbourhood, along with Siha, and were clearing Salam.
“For the fourth day in a row, federal police units supported by the army are on the offensive,” he said.
Although the militants are vastly outnumbered in Mosul, they have embedded themselves among residents, hindering Iraqi forces who are trying to avoid civilian casualties.
Despite food and water shortages, most civilians have stayed in their homes rather than fleeing as had been expected. Thousands more people have fled their homes since the military’s new push began, many under the cover of darkness to avoid detection by militants.
Families leaving Mithaq district yesterday had to climb over earthen berms that the military built across roads to block car bombs. One resident in eastern Mosul said he had never seen such heavy bombardment.
Several civilians were wounded when a mortar fell in his street, but they could not be transported to the hospital across the Tigris river in the western side of the city because air strikes have damaged all the bridges in the area.
“One of them is my friend. His stomach is bleeding badly. We found a doctor in the neighbourhood to treat him but I fear he will die if he stays like this for long,” he said.
A resident of Karama district said ISIL had begun forcing residents out of some areas, burning the cars of residents who refused to move.
“They want to clear out the neighbourhood before the Iraqi forces enter,” he said.