Islamic State hits Iraqi forces near Mosul
Counterattacks also kill civilians
Qabr al-abd, Iraq — Under the cover of dust and fog, Islamic State group fighters launched a series of counterattacks on Iraqi positions to the south and west of the militant-held city of Mosul late Friday night and into Saturday morning, according to Iraqi military commanders and officials.
The massive operation to retake Mosul was officially launched on Oct. 17, but after initially swift battlefield successes, the progress of Iraqi forces later slowed down in the face of fierce Islamic State counterattacks and concerns over the safety of civilians still inside the city.
The Islamic State has largely failed to push back Iraqi troops, but its counterattacks have inflicted high casualties on both civilians and security forces alike and, in some cases, shaken morale.
The U.N. reported this week that nearly 2,000 members of the Iraqi forces were killed last month, but after coming under fire from the media arm of the Iraqi military, it announced Saturday it would discontinue publishing casualty figures for Iraq’s security forces.
West of Mosul, one Iraqi official said Islamic State militants breached the defenses of Shiite militiamen at a village outside the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, which is west of Mosul. Reached by telephone near Tal Afar, he said the attack on the village of Sharea took place Friday night.
Fighting continued into Saturday, he added, without providing details.
An Islamic State statement said the attack on the village began with a suicide car bombing that killed and wounded “dozens” of militiamen. A “multipronged” attack on the village followed, forcing the militiamen to flee, it added. Islamic State fighters seized nine allterrain vehicles fitted with machine guns, two Humvees, weapons and munitions from the militiamen, according to the statement released Saturday.
South of Mosul, the Islamic State launched attacks on the positions of a tribal militia and a number of Iraqi army positions, according to an Iraqi official and commanders on the ground.
Along the Tigris River valley, Islamic State fighters moved under the cover of heavy mortar fire to attack Iraqi positions outside the villages of alQasar and Qabr al-Abd, said Iraqi Army Col. Haider Hatem, explaining that a dust and fog storm in the Mosul area on Friday gave the militants cover to launch the attacks.
“Over four hours, they launched more than 200 mortars,” Hatem said. His men finally suppressed the onslaught in the early hours of Saturday morning, he added.
The attacks are evidence of the slow pace of the Iraqi advance, which in turn is allowing the militant group time to regroup after suffering battlefield setbacks, according to Iraqi officials. Despite the fierce attacks, the Islamic State was unable to retake any territory southeast of Mosul, Hatem said.
“They are just doing this to create another obstacle to our advances, they don’t want to hold the territory,” said Sgt. Maj. Muhammad Sabah, speaking at a position some 6.2 miles south of Mosul’s airport that his unit has held for nearly two weeks.
“We are just waiting here for the order to advance,” he said, “if we had it, we would already be inside Mosul.”
Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarellah, the commander of a joint operations center that oversees the Mosul campaign, said the presence of civilians continues to be the biggest factor slowing advances toward Mosul. Rather than just pushing forward, his men are often forced to pause to deal with humanitarian issues, he said.