Airstrikes pound Mosul
Civilian deaths up as Iraqis fight terrorists
MOSUL, Iraq - Hundreds of civilians, many badly injured, fled Mosul as airstrikes pummeled the Old City on Sunday.
Many had to be carried out over mounds of rubble by family members. Deeper inside the district, narrow alleyways were littered with bodies.
Iraqi forces say their recent territorial gains against the Islamic State group in Mosul’s Old City have largely been propelled by airstrikes, despite a spike in allegations of civilian casualties and warnings from human rights groups of the dangers of using large munitions in the dense, highly populated area.
Special forces Lt. Col. Muhanad al-Timimi said over the past three days his forces have carried out about 20 airstrikes a day on territory held by the Islamic State within their area of operation — a part of the Old City measuring less than a square mile.
“It’s because we have a lot of enemy forces here,” he said, conceding the number of munitions used was relatively high.
Half buried in a mound of rubble beside a strike crater, limbs protruded, darkened by dust and rotting in the summer heat.
“Those were two Daesh fighters,” said Sgt. Ali Mehdi, a member of al-Timimi’s security detail, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
When the small unit rounded another narrow street the men silently stepped over the body of an elderly man lying in a pool of fresh blood.
Throughout the fight against the Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition has largely relied on airstrikes to enable Iraqi ground forces to advance. But in previous battles, civilians were evacuated from front lines. In Mosul, the Iraqi government told the city’s estimated 1 million people to stay put to avoid massive displacement.
Manhal Munir was sheltered in the basement of his home with his extended family when Islamic State fighters took a position on his roof. They were targeted by an airstrike Sunday morning. The house collapsed.
“I just pulled my youngest daughter out with me,” Munir said at a nearby medic station, the toddler on his lap. “My mother was stuck between two large blocks of cement. We tried to free her,” he said, still covered in dust and his eyes red with grief. “After two hours she died.”