iraqi forces aim to secure mosul bridge link up to east bank
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Iraqi forces aim to secure Mosul bridge, link up to east bank

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Iraqi forces aim to secure Mosul bridge, link up to east bank

Mosul - Arab today

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pushed deeper into western Mosul on Sunday, aiming to capture a bridge across the Tigris which would link the city's government-held eastern bank with the ongoing offensive against remaining militants in the west.

 

The bridge is the southernmost of five bridges spanning the Tigris. All were damaged in strikes by the U.S.-led air coalition, and later by Islamic State militants trying to seal off the western bank still under their control.

"The bridge is very important," Colonel Falah al-Wabdan of the Interior Ministry's Rapid Response unit, one of the two main forces spearheading the campaign in western Mosul, told Reuters. "The bridge is about 400 metres away. By the end of the day you will hear that our forces have arrived (there)."

Army engineers plan to rehabilitate the bridge to allow troops to bring in reinforcements and supplies directly from the eastern side, he said.

Iraqi forces captured eastern Mosul in January, after 100 days of fighting. They launched their attack on the districts that lie west of the Tigris a week ago.

If they defeat Islamic State in Mosul, that would crush the Iraq wing of the caliphate that the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in 2014 over parts of Iraq and neighbouringSyria. The U.S. commander in Iraq has said he believes U.S.-backed forces will recapture both Mosul and Raqqa - Islamic State's Syria stronghold - within six months.

Army, police, and elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and Rapid Response units forces are attacking Islamic State in west Mosul, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition, including artillery fire. U.S. personnel are operating close to the frontlines to direct air strikes.

Hundreds of people have fled the fighting in the direction of government lines since Thursday, at least 1,200 of them in the early hours of Sunday, according to a CTS officer.

Of those, several dozen had been forcibly taken into Mosul in the early stage of the offensive from nearby regions to serve as human shields.

"We want to return to our home in Mafraq al-Qayyara," south of Mosul, said 28-year-old Mohammad Allawi Zeidan, as he walked with a group of two dozen people on an agricultural road between Mosul airport and the Tigris river nearby.

He said they were held hostage in Hawi al-Josaq, a riverside district that the Rapid Response unit is trying to capture on its way towards the bridge.

Islamic State forced tens of thousands of people to leave villages south of Mosul and walk alongside the jihadists as they retreated in late October toward the city. Thousands of them were freed in earlier stages of the offensive.

TOUGH BATTLE AHEAD

Iraqi troops have already captured the southern and western accesses to western Mosul, dislodging the militants from the airport, a military base, a power station and one residential district, al-Maamoun, according to military statements.

Commanders say they will soon complete the recapture of two others residential district, al-Tayyaran and Hawi al-Josaq.

They are currently about three kilometres (2 miles) from the old city centre and the main government buildings, the capture of which would effectively mean the fall of Mosul.

Iraqi commanders expect the battle to be more difficult as they get closer to the old city in part because tanks and armoured vehicles cannot pass through its narrow alleyways.

Several thousand militants, including many who travelled from Western countries to join up, are believed to be holed up in the city with practically nowhere to go, which could lead to a fierce standoff amid a remaining civilian population of 750,000.

They are facing a 100,000-strong force made up of Iraqi armed forces, regional Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Iranian-trained Shi'ite Muslim paramilitary groups.

The militants have developed a network of passageways and tunnels to enable them to hide and fight among civilians, melt away after hit-and-run operations and track government troop movements, according to inhabitants.

A resident of Hawi al-Josaq who gave his name as Mohammed said the troops need to inspect each house to ensure no militants remained.

"Even if they just kill one soldier they consider themselves victorious," he said, as he took a jug of milk from a boy at the door. He said the family had been living on milk and bread for the last two weeks as they were unable to go to the market.

Sniper, machine gun and mortar fire could be heard. A soldier said fighting in the blocks further north was going from house to house.

The United Nations says up to 400,000 people may have to leave their homes during the new offensive as food and fuel runs out in western Mosul. Aid groups warned on Friday that the most dangerous phase of the offensive was about to begin.

The government is encouraging residents to stay in their homes whenever possible, as they did in eastern Mosul where fewer people fled than expected.

Source: Ahram online

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

iraqi forces aim to secure mosul bridge link up to east bank iraqi forces aim to secure mosul bridge link up to east bank

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

iraqi forces aim to secure mosul bridge link up to east bank iraqi forces aim to secure mosul bridge link up to east bank

 



GMT 21:38 2017 Monday ,30 October

Arab coalition to confronting Houthis

GMT 05:09 2017 Wednesday ,20 September

UK to take 130 more lone refugee children in Dubs

GMT 16:27 2011 Thursday ,07 July

More photos come up

GMT 10:49 2016 Monday ,19 September

Greek central banker denies rift with government

GMT 04:51 2017 Saturday ,21 October

EU puts brakes on Macron's Google tax push

GMT 11:35 2017 Friday ,17 March

Bahrain Bourse daily trading report

GMT 20:38 2017 Friday ,24 February

20 terror suspects, including 4 women, arrested

GMT 10:40 2017 Saturday ,29 April

Sudan condemns Paris' terrorist attack

GMT 08:33 2017 Tuesday ,21 November

Hezbollah denies sending arms to regional conflicts

GMT 23:14 2017 Tuesday ,02 May

Deputy premier meets Malaysian counterpart

GMT 10:45 2016 Monday ,25 July

Warner, Marvel wow Comic-Con

GMT 09:17 2017 Monday ,08 May

Macron marches to French presidency

GMT 10:45 2016 Wednesday ,21 September

Tesla fixes security in Model S after Chinese hack

GMT 10:41 2017 Friday ,05 May

'Lobby money' behind fall of Philippine Chief

GMT 08:47 2018 Saturday ,20 January

After storm, trains resume limited service in Germany

GMT 14:22 2013 Friday ,11 October

American furniture
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday