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Business News/ News / World/  Iraqi forces enter IS-held Mosul: military 
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Iraqi forces enter IS-held Mosul: military 

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 operation for the troops

A man who just fled Bazwaya village carries a white flag as he arrives at a special forces checkpoint, east of Mosul, Iraq. Photo:ReutersPremium
A man who just fled Bazwaya village carries a white flag as he arrives at a special forces checkpoint, east of Mosul, Iraq. Photo:Reuters

Bazwaya/Baghdad: Iraq announced on Tuesday that its forces had entered jihadist-held Mosul for the first time since the Islamic State group overran the city more than two years ago.

Iraqi army forces had entered areas within “the left bank of the city of Mosul," Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said.

Mosul is split down the middle by the Tigris River. Iraqis refer to the eastern half of the city as the left bank and the western side as the right bank.

Earlier Iraq’s special forces entered the outskirts of Mosul on Tuesday and were advancing toward its more urban center despite fierce resistance by Islamic State group fighters who hold the city, an Iraqi general said.

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.

Troops entered Gogjali, a neighbourhood inside Mosul’s city limits, and by noon were only 800 meters (yards) 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 fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off the Karama neighbourhood and our troops’ advance," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. Bombs have been laid along the road into the city, he added.

Mosul is the final IS bastion in Iraq, the city from which it drove out a larger but demoralized Iraqi army in 2014 and declared a “caliphate" that stretched into Syria. Its loss would be a major defeat for the jihadis, but with the closest Iraqi troops still some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the city center, 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 anti-tank missiles and small arms in an attempt to block the advance. Airstrikes by the US-led coalition supporting the operation added to the fire hitting the district.

From the nearby village of Bazwaya, smoke could be seen rising from buildings on the city’s edge, where shells and bombs were landing. The IS fighters quickly 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.

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 was preventing families from moving toward the security forces and ordered them into the city center, but I refused and stayed."

For over two weeks, Iraqi forces and their Kurdish allies, Sunni tribesmen and Shiite militias have been converging on Mosul from all directions to drive IS from the city.

Iraqi forces have made uneven progress in closing in on the city. Advances have been slower to the south, with government troops still 20 miles (35 kilometers) away. To the north are Kurdish forces and Iraqi army units, and Shiite militias are sweeping toward the western approach in an attempt to cut off a final IS escape route.

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Published: 01 Nov 2016, 04:45 PM IST
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