Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Shiite militias help as Iraqis push toward Mosul
City’s encirclement aim of forces’ thrusts
SHURA, Iraq — State-sanctioned Shiite militias joined Iraq’s Mosul offensive Saturday with a pre-dawn assault to the west, where they hope to complete the encirclement of the Islamic State-held city and sever supply lines from neighboring Syria.
Other Iraqi forces aided by U.S.-led airstrikes and heavy artillery meanwhile drove IS from the town of Shura, south of Mosul, where militants had rounded up civilians to be used as human shields.
The twin thrusts come nearly two weeks into the offensive to retake Iraq’s second largest city, but most of the fighting is still taking place in towns and villages far from its outskirts, and the entire operation is expected to take weeks, if not months.
The involvement of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias has raised concerns that the battle for Mosul, a Sunni-majority city, could aggravate sectarian tensions. Rights groups have accused the militias of abuses against civilians in other Sunni areas retaken from IS, accusations the militia leaders deny.
The umbrella group for the militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Units, says they will not enter Mosul and instead will focus on retaking Tal Afar, a town to the west that had a Shiite majority before it fell to IS in 2014.
Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for the group, told reporters in Baghdad the militias had retaken 10 villages since the start of the pre-dawn operation. But there was likely still fighting underway, and he said forces were removing explosive booby-traps left by IS.Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, said his group and the other militias had advanced 4 miles toward Tal Afar and used anti-tank missiles to destroy three suicide car bombs that were heading toward them.
He said the U.S.-led coalition, which is providing airstrikes and ground support to the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces known as the peshmerga, is not playing any role in the Shiite militias’ advance. He said Iranian advisers and Iraqi aircraft were helping them.
Iraqi troops approaching Mosul from the south advanced into Shura after a wave of U.S.-led airstrikes and artillery shelling against militant positions inside the town. Commanders said most of the IS fighters withdrew last week with civilians, but that U.S. airstrikes had disrupted the forced march, allowing some civilians to escape.“After all this shelling, I don’t think we will face much resistance,” Iraqi army Maj. Gen. Najim al-Jabouri said as the advance got underway. “This is easy, because there are no civilians left.”But hours later, a few families who had hunkered down during the fighting emerged. The government has urged people to remain in their homes, fearing a mass exodus from Mosul
In Baghdad, meanwhile, an IS suicide bomber targeting an aid station for Shiite pilgrims killed at least seven people and wounded more than 20, police and hospital officials said.
The Sunni extremist group often target Iraq’s Shiite majority, which it views as apostates deserving of death.