Medics saving lives in front line
AS SAVAGE fighting rages in the world’s most violent city, three brave Western medics are calmly waging their own battle – to save the lives of friend and foe alike.
Iraqi special forces are closing in on the last remnants of Isis in Mosul, fighting over an area now only the size of two football pitches.
Senior army commanders do not expect any of the fanatics will give up in their last-stand battle around the al-Nouri Mosque – now dubbed “Isis’s ground zero”.
Yet in the midst of war-ravaged West Mosul’s Old City a valiant trio lead the operation to save soldiers, civilians and even Isis fighters.
The three, all with military backgrounds, have a hastily equipped Casualty Collection Centre – a MASHstyle frontline field hospital.
Exhausted from days of battle and in grimy, tattered clothes they await each incoming batch of wounded in sweltering 47C heat.
They perch on battered old furniture, even using a wheelchair, as they try to grab some rest.
The three – American veteran Eli Miller, 31, Swedish ex-soldier Erik Andersson, 22, and an Australian identified only as Anthony – have treated up to 150 victims a day.
The trio, from the non-government organisation Global Response Management, lead a team of 11 Iraqi medics who are also treating patients in a battered open-fronted building.
As another ear-shattering bomb goes off Eli says calmly: “We only took this position last night and have been treating the wounded ever since. This is what you call medical care under fire.
“We treat everyone. The front line is very close, maybe 200 metres away, and we are the first port of call for anyone who is wounded.
“There are people who have been trapped under rubble for three days suffering septic shock, dehydration, cases of delirium, shrapnel wounds, blast and bullet wounds.
“Many are civilians, some are soldiers. And yes we do treat Isis fighters. At the end of the day they are human beings.”
In the treatment centre a bloodied middle-aged civilian man is led out, both arms bandaged and with drips sticking out of each.
Asked how many of their patients survive Erik says: “I would say most of them. We give them initial care, then ambulances take them to hospitals which are inundated. If we were not here, most would die.”
It is thought wounded Isis fighters are treated at other hospitals and then taken for questioning by intelligence officers before facing trial for terrorism in Iraqi courts.
If they survive they face execution or lengthy prison sentences.
The stench from corpses lying by the side of the rubble-strewn alleyways is overwhelming in the oppressive heat and smoke.
The ISIS fighters are now surrounded by tough soldiers from the Iraqi army’s elite Golden Division.
Iraqi generals believe 1,000 are still alive but other observers believe there are just a handful left.
At the Golden Division’s field HQ General Fadil Barwari – one of the main commanders of the operation – said the end was near for Isis.
Asked if any of them are likely to surrender, he looked stern and snapped: “No. It won’t be long now.”