Iraqi forces face Islamic State car
bombs, fierce resistance in south Mosul
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[December 30, 2016]
By Stephen Kalin
NEAR MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi forces
faced car bombs and fierce resistance from Islamic State militants in
southern Mosul on Friday, the second day of a renewed push to take back
the city after fighting stalled for several weeks.
An officer in the federal police forces, which joined the battle on
Thursday, said there were heavy clashes in the southeastern Palestine
district, but they had made progress in two other neighborhoods,
disabling a number of car bombs.
Another officer, from an elite Interior Ministry unit fighting alongside
federal police, said his forces were gaining ground in the Intisar
district despite heavy clashes there.
Other officers said Iraqi forces in the east and north of the city were
clearing areas they had recaptured on Thursday before advancing any
further, and the army was trying to cut supply lines to the town of Tel
Keyf, north of Mosul.
Since the offensive began 10 weeks ago, U.S.-backed forces have retaken
a quarter of the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq in the biggest
ground operation there since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled
Saddam Hussein.
Recapturing Mosul would probably spell the end for Islamic State's
self-styled caliphate, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said the
group would be driven out of Iraq by April.
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Elite forces pushed into Mosul from the east in October but regular army
troops tasked with advancing from the north and south made slower
progress and the operation stagnated.
After regrouping this month, Iraqi forces advanced on Thursday on the
south, north and east of the city, which has been under Islamic State
control for more than two years.
Although the militants are vastly outnumbered, they have embedded
themselves among Mosul residents, hindering Iraqi forces who are trying
to avoid civilian casualties. Despite food and water shortages, most
civilians have stayed in their homes rather than fleeing as had been
expected.
On the northern front, Iraqi forces have yet to enter Mosul itself but
on Friday they were clearing just-recaptured areas on its periphery as
well as trying to cut off Tel Keyf.
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A tank is seen during battle with Islamic State militants in Mosul,
Iraq, December 29, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer
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"The enemy had occupied this area and used it for resting and
resupplying toward Tel Keyf and Mosul," Major General Najm
al-Jubbouri, a top commander in the offensive told Reuters in the
northern district of Sada, which was recaptured on Thursday.
"It (Tel Keyf) is surrounded from the other sides and by our forces
here," he said.
Jubbouri said the U.S.-led coalition backing Iraqi forces had killed
70 militants since late on Thursday and were using Apache
helicopters, HIMARS rocket launchers and fighter jets.
Iraqi forces have taken around half of the eastern side of Mosul,
which is bisected by the Tigris river, but have yet to enter the
western side, where 2,000-year-old markets and narrow alleyways are
likely to complicate any advance.
Coalition forces bombed the last remaining bridge connecting east
and west Mosul late on Monday in a bid to block Islamic State's
access across the Tigris River.
A medical source in Mosul told Reuters a large number of wounded
militants had been ferried across the river to the emergency
hospital on the western side of city on Thursday.
The source said the militants were denying wounded and sick
civilians access to the hospital.
(Additional reporting by Saif Hameed; Writing by Isabel Coles;
Editing by Louise Ireland)
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