Iraqi military officials eye east Mosul recapture within days

BAGHDAD // A day after Iraqi forces reached the eastern side of a bridge across the Tigris river that divides Mosul, a top commander of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) was confident that Iraqi troops would retake all of the eastern part of the city from ISIL militants.

East Mosul will be retaken within “a few days, God willing”, said Lt Gen Abdulghani Al Assadi. “The bridge fell tactically” after weeks of fighting, although Iraqi forces were still about 150 metres away.

The CTS was working to seize the areas overlooking Mosul university in the city’s north-east, after taking over a nearby district, another commander said.

“The Baladiyat neighbourhood is done and Sukkar should be done before nightfall,” said Maj Gen Sami Al Askari.

“This area is very important because it overlooks the university. It is a central district. If it falls we will control the forests, the presidential palaces and the eastern bank of the Tigris.”

The CTS was close to linking up with troops near by, said a commander in a regular army unit.

“They will soon liberate other areas and hopefully finish the eastern side. God willing we will soon announce the liberation of the entire eastern side from Daesh,” said Maj Gen Najm Al Jubbouri in the Al Hadba apartments complex in northern Mosul, which the army entered for the first time last week.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces launched an offensive on October 17 to retake Mosul, the last major urban centre in Iraq still controlled by ISIL who seized about a third of the country in 2014.

The federal advance inside the city had slowed to a crawl late last month but new coordination between the CTS and other forces had given fresh impetus to the operation.

They have also received increased support from the US-led coalition that has carried out the bulk of the air strikes against ISIL and deployed military advisers on the ground.

“It’s pretty excellent progress that they have made over the last couple of weeks, since they restarted the operation on the 29th” of December, coalition spokesman Col John Dorrian said.

“They have synchronised three axes of advance and that’s more than the enemy can solve,” he said.

Col Dorrian said that the CTS foray to the Tigris had more than just symbolic value for the 12-week-old operation to retake Mosul.

“The Tigris – that’s a natural landmark and a barrier that the enemy would have to navigate to either escape or reinforce,” he said.

‘ They have synchronised three axes of advance and that’s more than the enemy can solve Col John Dorrian Coalition spokesman