Iraq: Daesh kills 12 security forces near Mosul

Daesh killed seven Sunni tribal fighters who support the Iraqi government and five policemen today in a town south of Mosul, the extremist group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq, local security sources said.

The tribal fighters and police were gunned down at two fake checkpoints set up by the insurgents in Shirqat, a Sunni town between Mosul and Baghdad, they said.

Shirqat was supposed to have been secured by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and allied Shia militias in the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) months ago.

The Iran-backed PMF assisted the Iraqi military in taking Shirqat last September, and it was hailed at the time by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and the US-led coalition as a significant stepping stone on the way to “liberating” Mosul from Daesh.

However, Daesh launched an attack and recaptured parts of the town earlier this month, before being forced out again by the ISF. This shows that Shirqat is far from secure, as Baghdad claims, and the fact that they can set up fake checkpoints in the town is concerning.

Daesh has escalated attacks on forces and officials opposed to its rule as it fights off a military campaign to retake Mosul, the largest city in the “caliphate” it declared in 2014 over parts of Iraq and Syria.

The extremist group claimed an attack on a Sunni wedding west of Baghdad that killed at least 12 people on Thursday. It staged attacks and bombings over the past weeks in the Sunni towns of Fallujah and Rutba, also west of the capital.

In October, Daesh also managed to wreak havoc in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Daesh’s ability to strike targets hundreds of kilometres away from the Mosul frontline suggests that US and Iraqi authorities may have rushed into the campaign to recapture Iraq’s second city.

Iraqi armed forces began their offensive on Mosul on 17 October, with air and ground support from a US-led coalition of more than 60 countries. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni tribes and Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary forces are also taking part.