Snipers duel from rooftops in fight for Mosul
ISIS uses residents as human shields to slow Iraqi forces
MOSUL, Iraq — Islamic State fighters launched counterattacks Saturday against Iraqi special forces in eastern Mosul, emerging from populated areas deeper in the city to target the troops with mortars and suicide car bombs in clashes that raged late into the night.
Artillery shelling thundered across the city as snipers traded fire from rooftops and civilians emerged from the front lines waving white flags. There were fresh indications that other residents were being held back by the militants to be used as human shields.
The seesawing battle highlights the challenges ahead for Iraqi forces as they press into more densely populated neighborhoods of the country’s second largest city, where they will not be able to rely as much on airstrikes because of the risk of killing civilians.
“Daesh is in the city center, and we must be very careful as our forces advance,” Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi said of the Iraqi special forces, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The special forces entered the Gogjali district, on the eastern edge of Mosul, on Tuesday, marking their first major foray into the city itself after more than two weeks of fighting in its rural outskirts.
ISIS fought back Saturday, pushing the special forces from the southern edge of the neighborhood. Both sides fired mortar rounds and automatic weapons, while the Iraqi troops also responded with artillery. Snipers dueled from rooftops in residential areas, where most buildings are just two stories high.
Dozens of civilians emerged from their homes over the course of the day, some carrying white flags. Many civilians traveling with children and elderly relatives said they had to walk more than 6 miles to reach a camp for the displaced.
The advance of the Iraqi forces was also slowed by fortifications erected by the extremists in the more than two years since they captured the city. Trenches and berms have turned the streets and alleyways of a neighborhood once named after former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein into a maze.
Satellite images show rows of concrete barricades, earthen mounds and rubble blocking key routes into the city center. The images, taken Monday by Stratfor, a U.S.-based private intelligence firm, showed that ISIS fighters have cleared terrain and leveled buildings around Mosul airport and a nearby former military base on the west bank of the Tigris.
Mosul is the last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, and driving the militants out would deal a major blow to their self-styled caliphate stretching into neighboring Syria.
Iraqi forces have made uneven progress since the operation to retake Mosul began on Oct. 17. The territory they have retaken inside Mosul is just a small fraction of the city, which measures more than 9 miles across.