Mosul haunted by a sense that ISIL is not yet defeated

Liberation is not complete victory for east of Iraqi city

MOSUL // The Iraqi forces that retook east Mosul from ISIL last month have moved on to their next battle, creating a security vacuum that has left residents complaining of a job half done.

The traffic jams in the streets and the crowds swarming the shops of the neighbourhoods that ISIL controlled only weeks ago are deceptive, residents said.

“Everything looks like it’s back to normal but people know that bloodshed could be just around the corner and they live in constant fear,” said Omar, from a civil society group that has been trying to breathe life back into Iraq’s second city.

“Everybody is talking about the liberation, but Daesh is still here,” the 25-year-old said. “Their drones are flying above our heads, they target our homes, our hospitals and our mosques.” The Joint Operations Command that has been coordinating Iraq’s fightback since ISIL seized a third of the country in 2014 announced that the east bank of Mosul was “fully liberated” on January 24.

The Iraqi tricolour has replaced ISIL’s black flag above official buildings but the atmosphere is tense. “The suicide car bombs are back and that brings back memories of Daesh,” said Umm Sameer, a resident of Al Zuhoor neighbourhood.

On February 9, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a popular restaurant in east Mosul, injuring several people.

Contrary to some expectations, about three quarters of the popu- lation of east Mosul stayed home and weathered the fighting that engulfed their neighbourhoods when elite forces from the counter-terrorism service entered the city to take on the extremists.

Yet some of them are leaving now, although their areas have been officially liberated.

Nuriya Bashir, who is in her sixties, left Mosul with her children and grandchildren this week and took shelter at the Hasansham displacement camp east of the city. “My daughter’s husband was killed when a drone dropped a grenade. Daesh knew where he was that evening. The sleeper cells are everywhere,” she said.

Many people returned to their homes as soon as east Mosul was declared liberated, said camp manager Rizqar Obeid.

“But over the past few days, we have received about 40 families who couldn’t bear the situation in the city any longer.”

‘ Everybody is talking about the liberation, but Daesh is still here. Their drones are flying above our heads, they target our homes, our hospitals and our mosques Omar Civil society campaigner

There are security forces deployed in east Mosul, but Umm Sameer accused them of negligence. CTS fighters have now moved out to prepare for an assault on the city’s west bank.

“We have handed over this part of the city to the army,” said Abdulwahab Al Saadi, a CTS commander.

He said insecurity remained in the east because of mortar fire from militants on the west side. But weaponised drones and mortars are not the only concerns for east Mosul residents.

“The security shortcomings in east Mosul are obvious,” said Amer Al Bek, an activist with a local civil society group, criticising “the lack of professionalism of some of the security forces”.

Residents of four villages that lie north of the city limits on the east bank of the Tigris have said that armed ISIL fighters remain in their midst.

“There are about 100 of them in the area, walking around freely with their weapons and combat gear,” said one resident, who added that the militants had recently murdered several villagers.

“Why is the army not liberating our villages?” another resident said.

In the city itself, the number of residents who stayed on during the fighting made effective screening for ISIL militants all but impossible.

The Institute for the Study of War said last week that the “inability to find a suitable hold force is also creating openings for ISIL to reinfiltrate, as shown by attacks in eastern Mosul”. Besides the impact on the lives of civilians, the think tank warned that such reinfiltrations could also affect efforts to retake western Mosul, “forcing the ISF Iraqi security forces to fight on two fronts to recapture the city”.