REUTERS/Azad Lashkari The Commander of the Joint Military Operation Commander, Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, walks in the town of Khazer, Iraq, Monday (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) Peshmerga forces advance in the east of Mosul to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, October 17, 2016. A Pentagon spokesman also said the terror group is refusing to allow any civilians to leave Mosul, and in some cases isusing them to hide behind during the battle.
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“They are being held there against their will”.
“Conditions there are among the worst we’ve seen, and we expect thousands more people to be on their way soon”, said Tarik Kadir, head of the group’s response to the Mosul crisis.
An estimated 3,500 to 5,000 IS fighters are dug into Mosul, while tens of thousands of Iraqi forces have massed to recapture Iraqi’s second city in an offensive that began on the outskirts Monday.
A senior Iraqi general called on ISIL fighters to surrender as coalition forces march towards Mosul – the last major stronghold of the armed group in the country. A total of 20 villages were taken from the militants east, south and southeast of Mosul by early Tuesday, according to statements from the two forces, fighting alongside one another for the first time.
Defensive positions used by the jihadists, such raised banks of earth and trenches, have been targeted to weaken the resolve of the fighters, Stratfor says.
“It’s going to be a while”.
“If [the Iraqi forces] take over Hamdaniya, they will be at the gates of Mosul itself”.
A United States official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the smoke clouds hadn’t had any tactical effect.
The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Iraq chief, Thomas Weiss, said he also expected IS to use Mosul residents as human shields.
But “solid” new intelligence suggests he is still in the city, surrounded by 8,000 fanatical fighters.
Officials fear the jihadists may attempt to use rudimentary chemical agents, as they have previously, particularly in the battle’s later stages.
More than 100 American troops are accompanying Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the Mosul operation.
The group is “entering a new phase”, said Chris Phillips, managing director of counter-terrorism consultancy Ippso, adding that as the group loses its “caliphate”, “it would force them into more guerrilla or terrorist actions”.
The capture of Mosul in 2014 signalled the rise of IS as a major force.
Putin is to attend a summit on Syria in Berlin later on Wednesday with the leaders of France and Germany.
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Australian special forces are among the Western powers assisting the Iraqis behind the front lines by co-ordinating air strikes on Islamic State militants.
