Mosul: The last days of the shrinking Isis enclave in the Old City

[Slow death]

Mosul: The last days of the shrinking Isis enclave in the Old City


The noose is tightening around the extremist group in Mosul. In the first part of a series from Iraq, residents tell Patrick Cockburn of the brutally repressive measures used against them



The voice of Abdulkareem, 43, a former construction worker trapped inside the fast-shrinking Isis enclave in Mosul, trembles with fear as he describes the battle raging around him. He knows that it would be dangerous to try to escape, but it may be even more risky to stay where he is. He told The Independent in a phone interview: “I cannot speak more loudly because they [Isis] will shoot me if they catch me talking on the phone.”

Abdulkareem lives in the Dachat Barga neighbourhood near the al-Maydan district which is being heavily fought over as the Iraqi security forces pin Isis fighters, who may number only 300 combatants, in a small part of the Old City of Mosul with their backs to the Tigris River. “It is a small area, but it is like Stalingrad in that the buildings wrecked by bombs and shells provide good defensive positions,” says one observer, who wished to remain anonymous.   

Abdulkareem can hear the sounds of fighting all around him in Dachat Barga, but he dare not go out and see exactly what is happening. “We can hear the roar of the bombing and the mortar fire,” he says. “But we don’t know whether it is the Iraqi army, the coalition airstrikes or Daesh [Isis].” A week ago, his sister and her husband were injured. A mortar shell hit their house, though nobody knew who fired it. He heard later that they were safe in the al-Farouq neighbourhood which had been overrun by Iraqi forces.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mosul-latest-news-isis-old-city-enclave-north-iraq-forces-coalition-civilians-fighters-militants-a7827331.html

[BitcoinSupremo]

ISIS is in the last days, Mosul is almost taken, while the offensive against Raqqa has already started. ISIS days are numbered, I think he ,Abdulkareem needs to stay where it is and go near the forces fighting against ISIS, to find some shelter maybe. I hope he is safe and finally have to enjoy freedom once again after ISIS is taken out.

Big responsibility for letting ISIS run things around for such a long time, 6 years is on the big governments like USA, RUSSIA,FRANCE,GERMANY etc. They never battled ISIS seriously until now. It is a good thing for all people removing ISIS from history.

[Sithara007]

The truth is that a large number of the Mosul inhabitants (especially the Sunni Arabs) welcomed the ISIS when they first invaded the town. The locals claimed that they were fed up with the mostly Shiite Iraqi troops. Even now, a large number of the inhabitants don't want to live under Iraqi rule.

[Lieldoryn]

This whole situation reminds me of the circus. The first in the world, the US army, the first army in Europe, Turkey, the Russian army (also not the last in the world) the rest I don't even consider. All this Armada can't handle a bunch of bandits ISIS (even assuming that a lot of them). I don't believe it. Everyone wants instability in Syria and so long as ISIS is not threatened.

[Slow death]

The truth is that a large number of the Mosul inhabitants (especially the Sunni Arabs) welcomed the ISIS when they first invaded the town. The locals claimed that they were fed up with the mostly Shiite Iraqi troops. Even now, a large number of the inhabitants don't want to live under Iraqi rule.

It's hard to understand what the Muslims want, they're very complicated people.

This whole situation reminds me of the circus...

Who would the clowns? ha ha ha

[Sithara007]

This whole situation reminds me of the circus. The first in the world, the US army, the first army in Europe, Turkey, the Russian army (also not the last in the world) the rest I don't even consider. All this Armada can't handle a bunch of bandits ISIS (even assuming that a lot of them). I don't believe it. Everyone wants instability in Syria and so long as ISIS is not threatened.

There are only a few hundred Russian and American soldiers present in Syria, compared to around 40,000 ISIS militants (at least half of whom are foreign fighters). It is the local soldiers (Iraqi, Syrian, and Kurdish) who are doing most of the fighting against the ISIS.

[Mometaskers]

I wouldn't say I would be that glad yet. They simply are moving out and will just spread terror elsewhere. As ISIS loses ground in Iraq, we can expect their members to go home and try to replicate what they did.

By the looks of it, they are moving to Southeast Asia, a region that have groups fighting for the establishment of a caliphate decades before the rise of ISIS. As what has happened in the Philippines, there are foreign fighters joining the local terror groups (list of those found dead by the Philippine army included a Chechen, and some Arabs and Yemeni).

Once established in the region, they'll be harder to root out because the terrain (maritime Southeast Asia is archipelagic and with a lot of places still a tangled mess of jungles). Southeast Asian governments would have to deal with these themselves, their countries are not oil-rich enough for Americans and Europeans to worry about them. Australians would be worrying about this on their own, they're the only Western country nearby, can't imagine NATO getting into this. The Chinese would also be cautious, trying to avoid an Islamist uprising in their own backyard.

[Sithara007]

I wouldn't say I would be that glad yet. They simply are moving out and will just spread terror elsewhere. As ISIS loses ground in Iraq, we can expect their members to go home and try to replicate what they did.

By the looks of it, they are moving to Southeast Asia, a region that have groups fighting for the establishment of a caliphate decades before the rise of ISIS. As what has happened in the Philippines, there are foreign fighters joining the local terror groups (list of those found dead by the Philippine army included a Chechen, and some Arabs and Yemeni).

Once established in the region, they'll be harder to root out because the terrain (maritime Southeast Asia is archipelagic and with a lot of places still a tangled mess of jungles). Southeast Asian governments would have to deal with these themselves, their countries are not oil-rich enough for Americans and Europeans to worry about them. Australians would be worrying about this on their own, they're the only Western country nearby, can't imagine NATO getting into this. The Chinese would also be cautious, trying to avoid an Islamist uprising in their own backyard.

Huge numbers of Uighurs and Hui from China has joined the ISIS, and they are definitely concerned about this. Neither the western nations, nor China want the ISIS to establish itself in the Southeast Asia region.

[Mometaskers]

I wouldn't say I would be that glad yet. They simply are moving out and will just spread terror elsewhere. As ISIS loses ground in Iraq, we can expect their members to go home and try to replicate what they did.

By the looks of it, they are moving to Southeast Asia, a region that have groups fighting for the establishment of a caliphate decades before the rise of ISIS. As what has happened in the Philippines, there are foreign fighters joining the local terror groups (list of those found dead by the Philippine army included a Chechen, and some Arabs and Yemeni).

Once established in the region, they'll be harder to root out because the terrain (maritime Southeast Asia is archipelagic and with a lot of places still a tangled mess of jungles). Southeast Asian governments would have to deal with these themselves, their countries are not oil-rich enough for Americans and Europeans to worry about them. Australians would be worrying about this on their own, they're the only Western country nearby, can't imagine NATO getting into this. The Chinese would also be cautious, trying to avoid an Islamist uprising in their own backyard.

Huge numbers of Uighurs and Hui from China has joined the ISIS, and they are definitely concerned about this. Neither the western nations, nor China want the ISIS to establish itself in the Southeast Asia region.

Southeast Asia is still not that lucrative enough for Western countries to get involved in, unlike in the Near East where almost everyone is trying to play a game. Like I mentioned, Australia is the only Western country with a stake in this, because of the proximity and it's efforts to develop closer ties to Asia ( https://www.spectator.co.uk/2009/02/the-fall-of-a-civilisation-or-just-a-torn-country/# ).

The Chinese could also be worried but they'd probably just support from the backstage (like pledging to give money to support reconstruction in the Philippines) to prevent agitating their Muslims. The only way America would get deeply involved in this is if Islamists in the Philippines manage to capture a large enough area to threaten the republic. So far their troops are only helping with surveillance.

[EthBooksPro]

Meanwhile in Libya, they continue thriving. It's so disturbing that Mosul has been under the control of ISIL since June 2014. Those are 3 terrible years and the struggle goes on. The good news is that the Iraqi forces are just a few metres away from fully recapturing Mosul from ISIL, according to the Aljazeera News Network.

[BADecker]

The truth is that Islam is failing. Sure, Muslims won't say this. But ISIS is the best example of strict Islamic observance. Shiites are way better than Sunni's at Islam. Sunni's are goofy. They change Islam into whatever they want, and don't follow the Koran and Hadiths if they don't want to. ISIS followed the writings better than anyone.

Islam is dying. Soon it will be something else, even if the word "Islam" hangs around for a long time.

[BADecker]

Iraqi Prime Minister Declares Mosul "Liberated" From The Islamic State

As a reminder, Mosul is where the Islamic State achieved its greatest military victory when it captured the city in just four days on June 29, 2014 and handed the Iraqi military a humiliating defeat, sending shock waves through the region. Subsequent looting of Mosul's central bank provided the Islamic State with over $400 million in "seed funding" which the terrorist organization promptly put to bad use. The Iraqi PMI was expected to make an official victory announcement in the northern city later Sunday, after U.S.-backed Iraqi forces waged more than eight months of battle to reclaim it.

Troops have in recent days been fighting to clear the final Islamic State-occupied pockets of Mosul's dense Old City, on the western bank of the Tigris river.

Loaders and other heavy machinery cleared paths for Iraqi soldiers, who appeared at ease ahead of the recapture, despite bursts of gunfire nearby.

At the same time, the U.S.-led coalition said Sunday it had carried out two strikes near Mosul that destroyed 21 Islamic State fighting positions. Reporting on location, the WSJ adds that Humvees patrolling the area rolled over downed electrical lines "in a stark indication of the toll the siege has taken on Mosul's infrastructure and the likely high cost of rebuilding the city and resuming basic services there."

Read more and click the links at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-09/iraqi-prime-minister-declares-mosul-liberated-islamic-state.

[Sithara007]

Meanwhile in Libya, they continue thriving. It's so disturbing that Mosul has been under the control of ISIL since June 2014. Those are 3 terrible years and the struggle goes on. The good news is that the Iraqi forces are just a few metres away from fully recapturing Mosul from ISIL, according to the Aljazeera News Network.

They have spread all around the world. In addition to Libya, Iraq and Syria, they are present in at least a dozen other nations, including Afghanistan, Philippines, Thailand, Somalia, Nigeria, Yemen, and Pakistan. It is like a cancer.

[joebrook]

Meanwhile in Libya, they continue thriving. It's so disturbing that Mosul has been under the control of ISIL since June 2014. Those are 3 terrible years and the struggle goes on. The good news is that the Iraqi forces are just a few metres away from fully recapturing Mosul from ISIL, according to the Aljazeera News Network.

We will have to thank Barack Obama and his western allies for that, for they deemed it wise to overthrow Gaddafi and leave the zone as a terrorist breeding country. Africans are going to be the ones suffering and they dont give a damn about it.

[Sithara007]

Meanwhile in Libya, they continue thriving. It's so disturbing that Mosul has been under the control of ISIL since June 2014. Those are 3 terrible years and the struggle goes on. The good news is that the Iraqi forces are just a few metres away from fully recapturing Mosul from ISIL, according to the Aljazeera News Network.

We will have to thank Barack Obama and his western allies for that, for they deemed it wise to overthrow Gaddafi and leave the zone as a terrorist breeding country. Africans are going to be the ones suffering and they dont give a damn about it.

It was not Obama's idea. The Libyan invasion was planned and executed by Hillary Clinton, with ample support form Joe Biden. Obama was merely a puppet who signed the orders. Anyway, it was one of the major blunders in the American foreign policy. By overthrowing Gaddafi, they created a safe heaven for the ISIS in the Maghreb.

[skyline247]

This whole situation reminds me of the circus. The first in the world, the US army, the first army in Europe, Turkey, the Russian army (also not the last in the world) the rest I don't even consider. All this Armada can't handle a bunch of bandits ISIS (even assuming that a lot of them). I don't believe it. Everyone wants instability in Syria and so long as ISIS is not threatened.

The thing is ISIS militants are mixed in with the general population. You can't tell who is a soldier and who is an ordinary citizen. It is not like there are 2 armies fighting in No Man's Land like World War 1. You can't just blow up entire areas filled with innocent civilians just to take out one ISIS militant, although it seems like that is what is currently happening... so I guess I'm wrong.

[Mometaskers]

Meanwhile in Libya, they continue thriving. It's so disturbing that Mosul has been under the control of ISIL since June 2014. Those are 3 terrible years and the struggle goes on. The good news is that the Iraqi forces are just a few metres away from fully recapturing Mosul from ISIL, according to the Aljazeera News Network.

We will have to thank Barack Obama and his western allies for that, for they deemed it wise to overthrow Gaddafi and leave the zone as a terrorist breeding country. Africans are going to be the ones suffering and they dont give a damn about it.

It was not Obama's idea. The Libyan invasion was planned and executed by Hillary Clinton, with ample support form Joe Biden. Obama was merely a puppet who signed the orders. Anyway, it was one of the major blunders in the American foreign policy. By overthrowing Gaddafi, they created a safe heaven for the ISIS in the Maghreb.

And made true Gaddafi's threat - that Islam will conquer Europe without a single shot fired.