Battle for Mosul: Iraqi forces begin painstaking push into Old City
Iraqi soldiers pushed into the Old City neighborhood of Mosul on Sunday in what was expected to be a bitter battle to retake neighborhoods held by ISIS fighters.
The Islamic State captured Mosul three years ago, declaring Iraq’s second-largest city the capital of its caliphate. Iraqi government forces have been pushing ISIS out of Mosul for the past nine months, and the new offensive may end with the Islamic State’s last stand there.
“Iraqi forces early this morning breach into old #Mosul, the final #ISIS-held district in the city. We are proud to stand with them,” Brett McGurk, the Special Presidential Envoy for Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, posted on Twitter.
A U.S.-led international coalition is providing air and ground support to the campaign. Several airstrikes during the day hit a medical complex located just north of the Old City, alongside the western bank of the Tigris river, a Reuters TV reported.
Videos and photos taken by journalists accompanying Iraqi units depict a painstaking effort to advance through the densely populated Old City, with its winding streets and narrow alleys. The United Nations said about 100,000 people are trapped in the area and are at risk from the expected house-to-house fighting necessary to dislodge the ISIS fighters.
"This will be a terrifying time for around 100,000 people still trapped in Mosul's Old City ... now at risk of getting caught up in the fierce street fighting to come," the International Rescue Committee said in a statement.
Iraq state TV aired live footage showing thick black smoke rising from the Old City and the sound of gunfire rattling inside. It said leaflets were distributed urging civilians to leave through five “safe corridors," Reuters reported.
Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, the head of Iraq’s special forces, told state TV he expects the extremists to put up a “vicious and tough fight.” Al-Asadi said the troops “will be very careful” to protect the civilians in the densely populated area, Reuters said.