Sunday, February 12, 2017

Mosul Campaign Day 118, Feb 11, 2017

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It turns out yesterday’s violence was even worse than initially reported. Instead of one there were actually three car bombs in east Mosul. Those resulted in 15 deaths and 9 wounded. On February 11 two suicide bombers were killed. Even though fighting is over in east Mosul the insurgents continue to take a heavy toll on civilians in the liberated areas. Army Chief of Staff General Othman al-Ghanemi claimed that it would take 30 days to eliminate all the sleeper cells. The security forces (ISF) are conducting sweeps through neighborhoods, and extra units have been sent in to help. Even if those were all wiped out there would still be the shelling, drone strikes and infiltration attempts to deal with.


Out in the west the Islamic State also attacked the Hashd in Tal Abta. These assaults are completely useless as the territory is mostly wide open allowing the Hashd and Iraqi and Coalition aircraft to wipe them out.

Rudaw had a great piece on restaurateur Haji Nasir who was killed in a suicide bombing in east Mosul on February 10. The man had run ins with the Islamic State since 2005 when they demanded he change the name of his business and imposed a tax on him. He initially fled in 2014 when the city was taken over, but then returned where he was again forced to give his business a make over due to IS. After east Mosul was freed his restaurant became a thriving business in Zuhur until militants destroyed it.

Several prominent Islamic State leaders have been killed in the fighting in Mosul. The U.S. led Coalition announced the death of French national Rachid Kassim. He was responsible for the Paris attacks in November 2015.

Deutsche Welle reported on how IS continued to complicate the lives of civilians in Ninewa. It talked with people in the Khazir Camp. One man was a former policeman who had to hide for two years in Mosul out of fear that he would be executed by the insurgents He had several cousins however that joined the organization, which has led his family to now be ostracized. One family said that they could not live with others that had been part of the Islamic State. Ninewa’s government has not decided what to do with IS connected families yet. In Salahaddin, Babil, and Anbar they have been banned from some areas. The Ninewa council is talking about isolating them in a camp, but nothing has been made official yet. These all point to collective punishment as being the method of choice for provincial officials.

SOURCES

Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, "Iraqi officials: Suicide bombings in eastern Mosul kill 5," Associated Press, 2/10/17

Adel, Loaa, "Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada foils IS attack west of Mosul," Iraqi News, 2/11/17

Deutsche Welle, “’IS’ splits Iraq’s Sunni community and families,” 2/11/17

Europe Balkan Latest News, “5 killed, 300 hurt as Baghdad anti-government protests turn violent,” 2/11/17

NINA, "10 People Killed In two Car Bomb in Mosul," 2/10/17
- “Al-Ghanimi: The army, the federal police and the fight against terrorism are the forces who will enter the right coast of Mosul,” 2/10/17

Rudaw, “Biting the hand that feeds you: How ISIS killed a Mosul restaurateur,” 2/11/17
- “Notorious French ISIS leader killed in coalition air strike near Mosul,” 2/11/17


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