Iraqi forces recapture eastern Mosul from Islamic State
January 18, 2017
The entire eastern half of the Islamic State's former stronghold has been re-seized. Iraqi security forces have been fighting to retake the city since October 2016.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Dilkoff
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Iraqi forces in complete control of eastern Mosul
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The head of Iraqi special forces announced Wednesday afternoon that the remaining eastern districts of Mosul controlled by Islamic State (IS) militants have been recaptured by his troops. The city is the last major urban IS stronghold in Iraq.
At a press conference in the nearby town of Bartalla, Staff General Talib al-Sheghati announced "the liberation... of the left bank" of the Tigris River that bisects the city from north to south.
However, he noted that some work remains to remove the last holdout militants.
The seizure of Mosul's eastern areas comes one day after US military spokesperson Colonel John Dorrian told dpa that the eastern area would likely be recaptured "very soon."
In the phone interview, Dorrian also dismissed media reports that Iraqi units are fatigued.
"The Islamic State has not won a battle against the Iraqi security forces in - it is approaching - a year and a half," he said. "I do not see the enemy exhausting Iraqis, I see the exact opposite."
An embattled city
Iraqi forces and coalition partners launched their offensive to retake Mosul in October 2016. On December 29, they initiated a second phase involving a three-pronged incursion into the eastern half of the city. Airstrikes also targeted IS fighters' financial resources by destroying oil facilities and cash centers.
Much of the city's population did not or could flee, complicating military logistics for Iraqi troops. The United Nations reports that over the past three months, fighting has displaced around 150,000 individuals.
The Tigris River divides Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, into an eastern and western half. The western area of the city remains completely under IS control after being captured by the militants in June 2014.
The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State"
What has happened in Mosul since the operation to retake the city from the so-called "Islamic State" started in October?
Image: picture-alliance/Anadolu Agency/H. Baban
Iraqi army discover mass grave
While Iraqi troops advanced further into territory held by the so called “Islamic State” in their campaign to recapture Mosul, they found a mass grave which holds about 100
bodies, many of them decapitated. AP footage shows bones and decomposed bodies dug out of the ground by a bulldozer. This Iraqi federal police officer holds a stuffed animal he found on the site.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Evidence of brutality
The grave, found near the town of Hammam al-Alil near Mosul, proves to be a dark testimony to the „Islamic State’s“ brutality. IS militants have carried out a series of massacres since seizing large areas of southern and central Iraq in 2014. This photo shows a member of the Iraqi security forces inspecting a building that was used as a prison by Islamic State militants in Hammam al-Alil.
Image: Reuters/T. Al-Sudani
Freed from terror
These displaced Iraqi men from the Hammam al-Alil area celebrate their liberation as they return to their homes after the recapture of their village by Iraqi forces from Islamic State.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Al-Rubaye
Oil fields on fire
Oil wells have been set ablaze by IS in an apparent response to the ongoing military offensive to drive the extremist group out of its stronghold. A military commander said more than 5,000 civilians have been evacuated from eastern parts of Mosul and taken to camps. The surprise attack showed that even while under siege, the group could still sow chaos in parts of Iraq far from its base in Mosul.
Image: Reuters/A. Al-Marjani
What is the fight for Mosul all about?
Smoke rises during clashes between Peshmerga forces and IS militants in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul. Initially used by the "IS" to establish their caliphate and henceforth the key source of prestige and resources, Mosul is also the base for IS’s chemical weapon operation. The ancient Assyrian city also has formed a vital source of tax revenue and forced labor.
Image: Reuters/A. Lashkari
The role of the Iraqi army and its allies
Iraqi special forces take cover as their unit comes under fire from an Islamic State sniper. Together with Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite militias, Iraqi forces intensified fighting and moved into more densely populated areas of the city without air support from the US-led coalition due to the high-risk of civilian casualties.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Drobnjakovic)
Kurdish Peshmerga
Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces decided to focus on other strongholds of resistance in northern Iraq and on the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, where IS initiated a campaign of violence in response to the advances of the Iraqi army towards Mosul.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dicenzo
Fleeing from the fighting
The United Nations says over 34,000 people have been displaced from Mosul since the operation began on October 17, with about three quarters settled in camps and the rest in host communities.
