Iraqi forces stumble in bid for Mosul

As the Iraqi operation to recapture Mosul from Daesh enters its third day, there are signs that the offensive has slowed down despite promising indications on the first day that the operation was ahead of schedule.

Iraqi forces have been forced to withdraw from Qaraqosh, about 20 kilometres east of Mosul and one of the Iraqi Christian community’s main towns, after coming under sustained attack from Daesh militants.

Although some outlets reported the town as having fallen to advancing Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), a spokesman for the Iraqi military said that elements of the 9th Armoured Division were pushed out of the town after falling prey to Daesh snipers and booby-traps.

Qaraqosh has been besieged by the ISF since last night and has yet to fall, indicating that Daesh’s defences may be sterner than originally anticipated by optimistic Iraqi authorities and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

PMF vows involvement in Mosul combat

The Shia-dominated Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) have vowed to have more active involvement in the operation to push Daesh out of Mosul, the group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

The Iran-backed PMF announced yesterday that it would support ISF units attempting to take Tel Afar, about 55 kilometres west of Mosul, where the umbrella militia organisation seeks to interdict Daesh forces fleeing towards Syria.

The PMF has long stated that it will be involved in the Mosul operation, but yesterday’s announcement raised concerns that abuses and atrocities may be committed against civilians fleeing Daesh-held Mosul.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said yesterday that the US-led coalition would be responsible for preventing Daesh fighters from fleeing west to Syria, but the PMF’s declaration suggests that they are taking their own orders.

An Iraqi official told Reuters that the “Iranians and the [PMF] plan to take [Tel Afar] because of the [Shia] significance and use that as a way to angle in to Mosul. But they also want to use it as a way to angle into the Syria fight.”

Yesterday, Amnesty International released a damning report that blamed the Iraqi government, the PMF and even Kurdish authorities for perpetrating human rights abuses and atrocities against Iraq’s Sunni Arab community and warned further violations may occur in Mosul.

Turkish military involvement

In related developments, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said yesterday that the Turkish Air Force was involved in coalition airstrikes in Mosul, as part of the US-backed efforts to support anti-Daesh forces to take wrest control of Mosul back from Daesh control.

Ankara has been locked in a bitter dispute with Baghdad over Turkey’s deployment to Bashiqa in northern Iraq. Turkey has several hundred troops at the military base that it says are there to train anti-Daesh forces, including Sunni Arabs, Turkmens and Kurdish Peshmerga units.

Baghdad claims that Turkey is encroaching upon its sovereignty and is showing a lack of respect to Iraq by deploying troops without permission. Turkey disputes these claims, and says that it is on Iraqi territory with Baghdad’s permission, as well as at the invitation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Turkish state media TRT Arabic recently re-released footage of the former Iraqi Minister for Defence Khalid Al-Obeidi visiting the Bashiqa camp and accompanying Turkish military personnel in a tour of the camp, perhaps as a way of proving that Turkish troops were on Iraqi soil with permission.

The battle to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, began in the early hours of the morning last Monday. Mosul has been under Daesh’s sway since June 2014, when it forced Iraqi forces to flee the city in less than two days, a result that has caused the Iraqi state much embarrassment.