Iraqi forces completely clear east Mosul
But aid workers fear for civilian safety in battle across river
MOSUL // Iraqi forces retook the last area of Mosul east of the Tigris River from ISIL yesterday after a 100-day offensive. But aid groups have warned that the next phase could have dire consequences for civilians.
Army units flushed out fighters of ISIL from a rural area on the northern edge of Mosul, ending a crucial step in Iraq’s largest military operation in years.
“The Iraqi flag was raised and the left side was thus fully liberated,” the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against ISIL said. Commanders from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the fighting and prime minister Haider Al Abadi declared east Mosul had been liberated last week.
The battle for Mosul’s east was tough, but even deadlier battles are expected on its west bank, home to the narrow streets of the Old City and some of ISIL’s traditional bases. That has sparked deep concern among the aid community over the fate of the estimated 750,000 civilians still believed to be living in west Mosul.
“We hope everything is done to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who are across the river in the west,” said Lisa Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. “We know they are at extreme risk and we fear for their lives.”
Tens of thousands of security forces now surround the extremists in west Mosul, who are all but trapped in the city.
Residents of west Mosul and activists said on Monday that ISIL had forced civilians along the riverfront to leave their shops and houses.
“The group forced us to leave our homes without allowing us to take our belongings,” a resident of Al Maidan said. “It put gun positions and posted snipers on roofs and at windows.”
Facing them across the river are some of Iraq’s most seasoned elite forces, whose engineers were already working on pontoons for a cross-river assault.
All bridges across the Tigris in Mosul were bombed by ISIL or hit by air strikes carried out by the US-led coalition, which has helped Iraq to reclaim about two-thirds of the territory it lost to ISIL in 2014.
The coalition has meanwhile sought to prevent ISIL from moving on the Tigris, destroying more than 100 boats in six days. The UN had feared a mass escape of people before the Mosul offensive began on October 17, but while 180,000 people did flee their homes, most stayed.
“We don’t know what will happen in western Mosul but we cannot rule out the possibility of siege-like conditions or a mass exodus,” Ms Grande said.