USA TODAY International Edition
Iraqi shifts help prepare for final drive to oust ISIL
Quick attacks work; tough task in western Mosul
The rout of the Islamic State from eastern Mosul reflects improved fighting by Iraqi forces that could hasten the defeat of the militant group in Iraq, according to U. S. military officials.
Iraqi soldiers launched attacks on multiple fronts simultaneously as the U. S.- led coalition supporting them pounded the militants with air and artillery strikes.
“They really upped their game,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew Isler, a coalition official, said in an interview from Baghdad.
U. S. commanders expect the success in eastern Mosul to be repeated as forces cross the Tigris River into western Mosul, where the militants remain dug in.
Still, they acknowledge that clearing the rest of Iraq’s secondlargest city — the militants’ last major stronghold in the country — will be difficult. The neighborhoods are densely populated and crisscrossed with narrow streets and older buildings.
“There is still a difficult fight ahead,” Army Maj. Gen. Joe Martin, a coalition commander in Baghdad, told Pentagon reporters. He said that he was confident Iraqi forces would prevail.
The United Nations estimates there are 750,000 civilians remaining in the city’s west side, which makes airstrikes difficult. Plus the militants have had more than two years to prepare elaborate defenses.
It’s not clear how many militants are left in Mosul. The Pentagon initially estimated there were 3,000 to 5,000, but that number includes fighters who were later killed in the 3- monthold offensive to recapture the city. “They lost a big chunk of that,” said Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a military spokesman in Baghdad.
Even small groups of fighters can inflict damage if they are in defensive positions and willing to fight to the death. The city is largely surrounded and the militants have no way to escape.
“They realize this is the final episode of their existence in Iraq,” said Ismael Alsodani, a retired Iraqi brigadier general.
The Iraqi military’s success in eastern Mosul came after Dec. 29, when it relaunched an offensive after a week- long pause to reassess tactics and resupply units. The Iraqis used the time to shift forces and improve coordination among units, and the coalition increased the number of advisers with Iraqi units by about 40 to 450.
The renewed attack from multiple directions caught militants by surprise and Islamic State defenses quickly collapsed. “That’s when the tempo really increased,” Martin said.
The increased airstrikes and new defensive tactics employed by Iraqi ground units has helped lessen the threat posed by car bombs, one of the militants’ most effective weapons.
The militants are having trouble finding suicide bombers to drive the vehicles: Some drivers have abandoned explosive- laden cars before reaching Iraqi units.
Militants tried to flee the east of the city as Iraqi forces advanced, but those who tried to escape eastern Mosul on boats were hit by airstrikes, which targeted more than 150 vessels.