Iraq bombs Daesh targets in Syria
Strikes in Al Bu Kamal carried out in response to attacks in Baghdad
Iraqi warplanes have conducted airstrikes on Daesh targets inside neighbouring Syria for the first time, Iraq’s prime minister said yesterday, vowing to chase down the terrorists “everywhere” as Iraqi forces opened new fronts in the city of Mosul.
The strikes in Al Bu Kamal inside Syria — and Hussaiba on the Iraqi side of the border — were carried out by US supplied F-16 fighter jets in response to bombing attacks in the capital Baghdad, said Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi.
“We are determined to follow the terrorism that is trying to kill our sons and our citizens everywhere,” Al Abadi said.
Iraq decided to carry out the strikes itself, rather than relying on the US-led coalition, because it was acting off Iraqi intelligence and “it’s up to us to take revenge,” said Lt General Anwar Hana, commander of Iraq’s air force. The strikes were successful, he said.
A source close to the Syrian foreign ministry told leading newspaper Al Watan that the strikes were coordinated with the government in Damascus.
Also yesterday, a suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al Bab, killing 51 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from Daesh.
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces pushed into the first neighbourhood of western Mosul and took control of the international airport and a sprawling military base on the southwestern edge of the city.
Iraqi forces yesterday entered a west Mosul neighbourhood for the first time since the October launch of a massive offensive to retake the city from Daesh terrorists.
The push on Al Maamun, a small neighbourhood on the southwestern edge of Mosul, came after government troops retook the airport, which commands access to the city from the south, and a nearby military base. Terrorists have been on the back foot in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria, the twin pivots of the “caliphate” they declared in July 2014.
Turkish-backed rebels ousted Daesh from the strategic Syrian town of Al Bab on Thursday although they suffered a reversal yesterday when a suicide bomber attacked one of their command centres just outside the town, killing 51 people.
“We have attacked and fully control Ghazlani base, we have also taken Tal Al Rayyan ... and we’re attacking Al Maamun neighbourhood,” said Sami Al Aridhi, a lieutenant general in Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service.
He told AFP near the front line that Daesh terrorists attacked his forces with a suicide car bomb in Tal Al Rayyan, a village just outside Mosul, and that three other car bombs were found there.
Aridhi said the CTS, the most-seasoned force in Iraq, had suffered no losses since the renewed push on west Mosul was launched on Sunday.
He said some fighters had been wounded, however, including by the weaponised drones Daesh has increasingly resorted to in recent weeks.
AFP reporters south of Mosul said heavy artillery and mortar fire could be heard coming from the southern edge of the city while jets also conducted strikes.
While it was not immediately clear whether CTS forces would seek to push deep into the city or simply set up positions on the edge, the move marks another landmark in the protracted Mosul operation.
CTS spearheaded the weekslong effort to retake areas of the city on the east bank of the Tigris River, only fully liberating it last month.
They met fierce resistance from terrorists defending their last major stronghold in Iraq and commanders have warned that the west bank, where Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi proclaimed his caliphate, would be even tougher.
After weeks spent redeploying across the vast theatre of operations, Iraqi forces rekindled the offensive on Sunday, with the airport the initial target.
“I can confirm that the airport is fully liberated,” said Brigadier General Abbas Al Juburi, of the interior ministry’s elite Rapid Response units that led the assault.
Daesh terrorists offered limited resistance at the airport and the nearby Ghazlani base, open and uninhabited areas that are difficult for them to defend in the face of the huge firepower deployed by Baghdad and its allies. The hardest phase of the offensive on west Mosul still lies ahead.
The west bank of Mosul includes the Old City, whose narrow streets will be impassable for some military vehicles and oblige Iraqi forces to stage perilous dismounted raids.
The terrorists are completely surrounded in west Mosul and have little choice but to fight to the death.
Hashed Al Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) units that have been in charge of a front in desert areas west of Mosul said Friday they were attacked by Daesh fighters coming from Syria. Hashed Al Shabbi forces have moved to within striking distance of the Daesh-held town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, and the terrorists are likely to be keen to keep some supply lines to Syria open as they weather the siege on Mosul.
Over the border in Syria, Daesh is under attack on three fronts. A US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has been pushing south towards the terrorists’ main stronghold of Raqa.
Syrian government forces have been pushing east from Aleppo after regaining full control of the second city in December. And a Turkish-backed rebel alliance has been pushing south from the Turkish border, ousting Daesh from Al Bab on Thursday after weeks of deadly fighting.
Yesterday’s deadly bombing just outside the town showed the rebels still have some way to go to secure the area.
There was no immediate claim for the bombing but it bore all the hallmarks of Daesh.