Iraqis eye Mosul bridge for supply line
Security forces move to seize the bridge in the west to build a platform to deliver rations and ammunition from the east
MOSUL // Iraqi forces yesterday battled towards a key bridge in west Mosul in an operation aimed at setting up a route for reinforcements from the eastern half of the city that has been retaken from ISIL. “We had an important operation this morning to move towards the bridge,” said Col Falah Al Wabdan, from the interior ministry’s rapid response units who have led the advance into west Mosul, in the Jawsaq neighbourhood. “We have moved past a large berm constructed by Daesh with tunnels underneath,” he said, adding that the area was heavily mined and that his forces killed 44 extremists yesterday.
Col Al Wabdan was referring to what is known as the fourth bridge, the southernmost of five bridges – all of which were damaged and unusable – across the Tigris river that divides the northern Iraqi city.
Government forces have made steady progress in the week since they launched a major push on the western side of the city, where an estimated 2,000 ISIL fighters are holding out and 750,000 civilians are trapped.
Iraqi troops have captured the southern and western approaches to western Mosul, dislodging militants from the airport, a military base, a power station and a residential district, Al Maamun, according to the military. Commanders said they would soon complete the recapture of two other residential districts, Al Tayyaran and Jawsaq.
Col Al Wabdan said that securing the bank area near the fourth bridge would allow the army to build a floating bridge to the other side and increase pressure on the extremists.
“It is very important because if we take it, engineering units will be able to throw a bridge across from the left bank so that we can move supplies and ammunition from the battlefield,” he said.
Bridging operations under fire are complex and perilous, but Iraqi forces have been trained by the US military and have successfully used the strategy in the fight against ISIL.
A floating bridge over the Euphrates river built with US assistance was considered a turning point in the battle in which Iraqi forces retook the western city of Ramadi from ISIL a year ago. Troops from the US- led coalition helping Iraq to regain territory seized by ISIL in 2014 have stepped up their involvement on the ground in recent weeks.
They are officially stationed in Iraq as trainers and advisers but have increasingly been drawn into combat. They have been more visible than ever on the front lines since the push on west Mosul was launched on February 19.
The western side of the city is a little smaller than the east but more densely populated, and is home to some areas that are considered extremist strongholds.
It includes several of Mosul’s key landmarks and the Old City, where ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi made his only public appearance and proclaimed a caliphate in July 2014.
Iraqi commanders expect the battle to be more difficult as they get closer to the Old City, partly because tanks and armoured vehicles will not be able to pass through its narrow alleys.
Civilians trapped in west Mosul have in some cases been used as human shields by the extremists as they defend their last major bastion in Iraq.
“With the battle to retake western Mosul now in its second week, we are extremely concerned about the 800,000 or so still trapped in some of the most dire conditions,” said Karl Schembri, a spokesman for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Food supplies have declined as rapidly as costs have soared, leaving many surviving on barely a meal a day.
Residents and medical workers said the combined effects of malnutrition and the lack of medicine was starting to kill the weakest people. The United Nations has planned for an exodus of at least 250,000 people from west Mosul. But in the absence of humanitarian corridors, only a few hundred have been able to flee the area so far.