Iraqi troops hand over rations to civilians
Supplies run low in liberated areas of Mosul
MOSUL, IRAQ • Explosions and gunfire rattled parts of eastern Mosul and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants fired mortars from apartment windows Tuesday as Iraqi special forces waged fierce urban combat in the country’s second-largest city.
Hundreds of civilians filled the streets clamouring for food and cigarettes in recently retaken neighbourhoods where supplies were running low. Some of the troops handed over their own rations.
Iraqi forces say they have largely cleared the neighbourhoods of Zahra and Qadisiya in eastern Mosul. The operation to retake the militant-held city began Oct. 17 and troops made swift progress before their advances slowed once they pushed into more densely populated areas.
Iraqi forces moving in from the south have maintained slow progress and remain more than 20 kilometres from central Mosul.
“This morning, we have like 1,000 people from the civilians, who escape from this area to safer area,” said Ali Tahseen, a special forces soldier in eastern Mosul.
Mosul has been under the tight control of the extremists for more than two years and is still home to some one million civilians. Aid groups have warned of a humanitarian crisis if hundreds of thousands are forced from their homes during the operation.
“This is a problem for us because the food we have is not enough for them and we’re waiting for more food to be sent from the government,” said Maj. Salam alO-beidi. “Now the Iraqi soldier is giving his food to the civilians.”
Residents gathered on the streets to exchange news. A long line grew outside a shop selling cigarettes, where people argued and bought dozens of packs each now that the extremists and their smoking bans were gone.
“Before, it was prohibited, cigarettes are prohibited,” said one resident, Hani Hamed, laughing happily. “Now we are free to smoke.”
Near the northeastern Zahra district, explosions and gunfire erupted as the special forces advanced. ISIL militants fired mortar rounds on the troops from apartment windows in the al-Samah neighbourhood, wounding at least seven civilians when the shells landed in the streets.
“There was heavy shooting near us. ISIS were there,” said Musenna Abdulla, who fled Mosul on foot. “They are not afraid of God, they destroyed us. And the last thing they did is they came to our house and set up a mortar position near our house and started shooting. We told them that there are civilians, but they didn’t care.”