ISLAMIC STATE: Iraqi Forces Advance on Outskirts of Mosul City November 0112:32
Iraqi forces fought against Islamic State militants in Gogjali, on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, on November 1, as the military edged closer to overthrowing the 2-year rule the group had over the city. Ahead of the advance on the city, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for IS militants to ?surrender or die.? This video was broadcast live from Kurdish news outlet Rudaw English, and shows the Gogjali neighbourhood on the outskirts of Mosul, where Iraqi forces have been battling against Islamic State militants. Credit: Facebook/Rudaw English
Displaced people stand on the back of a truck at a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul. Picture: AP Photo/Felipe Dana
IRAQ’S special forces have entered the outskirts of Mosul and are advancing toward its more urban centre despite fierce resistance by Islamic State fighters, an Iraqi general said.
Troops entered Gogjali, a neighbourhood inside Mosul’s city limits on Tuesday, and by noon were only 800 metres from the more built-up Karama district, according to Major General Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces.
“The special forces have stormed in,” he said. “Daesh (IS) is fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off the Karama neighbourhood and our troops’ advance.”
It was the first time Iraqi troops have set foot in the city, Iraq’s second largest, in over two years. The advance could be the start of a gruelling and slow operation for the troops, who will be forced to engage in difficult, house-to-house fighting in urban areas that is expected to take weeks, if not months.
Mosul is the final IS bastion in Iraq, the city from which it drove out a larger but demoralised Iraqi army in 2014 and declared a “caliphate” that stretched into Syria.
#Iraq's troops reach #Mosul as offensive against IS continues: https://t.co/LyfjwTYwFe@BBCiPannell has been advancing with them. pic.twitter.com/sIUWXosXAe
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 1, 2016
Its loss would be a major defeat for the jihadis, but with the closest Iraqi troops still some 10 kilometres from the city centre, much ground remains to be covered.
Tuesday’s battle opened up with Iraqi artillery, tank and machine gun fire on IS positions on the edge of Gogjali neighbourhood, with the extremists responding with guided antitank missiles and small arms in an attempt to block the advance. Air strikes by the US-led coalition supporting the operation added to the fire hitting the district.
As Iraqi special forces push into Gogjali in the outskirts of #Mosul, #ISIS opens fire behind their lines at Bazwaya, a few miles back pic.twitter.com/K2DzkzpqOV
— Loveday Morris (@LovedayM) November 1, 2016
Spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said that the US-led coalition, which coordinates all its attacks with the Iraqis, has been observing the battlefield and has noted that IS forces can no longer move in large numbers.
“And when we see them come together where there are significant numbers we will strike them and kill them,” he said during a televised press conference with Iraqi forces in Qayara, south of Mosul. Concerns over civilian casualties have led to air operations using precision munitions only, he added.
Iraqi army soldiers warm themselves next to a fire near the Qayara air base, south of Mosul. Picture: AP Photo/Felipe DanaSource:AP
From the nearest village east of Mosul, Bazwaya, smoke could be seen rising from buildings in Gogjali, where shells and bombs had landed. IS fighters also lit special fires to produce dark smoke in order to obscure the aerial view of the city.
Inside the village, white flags still hung from some buildings, put up a day earlier by residents eager to show they wouldn’t resist the Iraqi forces’ advance. Some residents stood outside their homes, and children raised their hands with V-for-victory signs.
The families, estimated to number in the hundreds, will be evacuated from the village to a displaced persons camp, according to Brigadier General Haider Fadhil of the Iraqi special forces.
Displaced people who fled from Islamic State-held territory sit outside a mosque guarded by Iraqi soldiers in Shuwayrah, south of Mosul. Picture: AP Photo/Felipe DanaSource:AP
As the fighting raged, several of the newly displaced from Bazwaya could be seen carrying white flags and driving a herd of some 150 sheep toward the camp. Emad Hassan, 33, a former policeman, said he had come to Bazwaya when the operation started in order to flee the IS fighters.
“When I knew the security forces were serious about liberating Mosul, I came here,” he said. “Daesh (IS) was preventing families from moving toward the security forces and ordered them into the city centre, but I refused and stayed.”
Video shot secretly from a car inside Mosul by a resistance group offers a rare glimpse of the war-torn, desolate city. The video begins in an area near the University of Mosul, before revealing blast walls and black IS flags, CNN reports.
Video secretly shot inside Mosul gives a rare glimpse of the Iraqi city ahead of intense battle with ISIS https://t.co/RJfxMVarAK pic.twitter.com/yaMfgUc10g
— CNN (@CNN) November 1, 2016
On Monday night, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a chilling warning to IS fighters.
“There is no way to escape, either surrender or die,” he told a reporter for state-run Iraqiya TV, CNN reported. “(We will) cut the head (off) the snake,” he said.
The US military estimates IS has 3000-5000 fighters in Mosul and another 1500-2500 in its outer defensive belt. The total includes about 1000 foreign fighters. They stand against an anti-IS force that including army units, militarised police, special forces and Kurdish fighters totals over 40,000 men.
ISLAMIC STATE: Damages Filmed in Recaptured Christian Town of Bartella, Near Mosul November 011:00
Journalists with the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw explored the recently recaptured town of Bartella, 22km east of Mosul, on November 1, after the Iraqi military drove Islamic State militants from the area. The town was populated by a Christian majority before Islamic State took control in June 2014, forcing many of the occupants to flee to the Kurdistan region. This video, which shows a damaged Orthodox church, was released after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for Islamic State militants to ?surrender or die? as Iraqi forces aligned themselves on the outer edges of Mosul city. Credit: Facebook/Rudaw English