Iraqi Troops Push Into Famed Ancient Town Of Nimrud South Of Mosul


Iraqi troops pushed into a town south of Mosul where artifacts have been destroyed by Islamic State militants at a nearby archeological site of ancient Assyrians. On Sunday, special forces continued to fend off suicide bombers while cautiously advancing into the area.

Gaining the territory of Nimrud has been the most significant step over the past several days for the government forces, allowing the ability for teams to assess any damage done to the famed ruins that sit just outside the town.

Troops continue to converge on Mosul from several directions. It is Iraq’s second largest city and is the biggest area of urban territory under IS control. It is a part of an offensive that was launched last month. Special forces have advanced the farthest so far and have been able to hold a handful of districts on the eastern edge of the city. Their progress has slowed due to a resistance within the urban areas of the city that is filled with civilians.

After heavy fighting, troops were able to take over Nimrud, which is 19 miles to the south of Mosul, as the operation’s commander stated. It hasn’t been made clear if forces were able to liberate the 13th -century B.C. archaeological site that is nearby that has been destroyed with explosives as has been shown by a video that has been released.

“The 9th division of the Iraqi army has liberated the town of Nimrud completely and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings after the enemy suffered heavy casualties,” Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said in a statement.

The archaeological site, discovered in the 1980s, contained treasures of Nimrud’s royal tombs and was one of the 20th century’s most significant archaeological finds. Militants reportedly destroyed it a year after capturing the area in 2014 by using heavy military vehicles.

The AP shares the scene within video footage that shows the demolition by militants.

“Video footage released by the jihadis at the time showed bearded men hammering, bulldozing and ultimately blowing up parts of the ancient Iraqi treasure, ripping down huge alabaster reliefs depicting Assyrian kings and deities. They claim the artefacts promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.”

Col. John Dorrian, who is a spokesman for the U.S. forces that are operating the air offensive against IS, said that few airstrikes were used around Nimrud and troops that were advancing were expected to move in carefully.

“It’s an important gain,” he said, but warned that IS often leaves behind some combatants.

“As Iraqi forces get closer to Mosul, everything becomes more difficult as they like to leave behind a few fighters to spoil the advance.”

Forces say that in Mosul, they have cleared a number of neighborhoods and are planning a further advance in the next hours. The past week has resulted in forces making slow gains while trying to avoid casualties among troops and civilians seeing as suicide bombers have presented themselves regularly in armored vehicles while in densely populated areas.

“The only weapons they have left are car bombs and explosives,” said Iraqi special forces Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi as he radioed with commanders in the field. “There are so many civilian cars and any one of them could be a bomb,” he said.

Suicide bombers did attack on Saturday when forces were advancing, wounding a dozen troops and three civilians, while also killing a child. An officer spoke about the tragic incident.

“Civilians have told us of horrific stories from inside Mosul,” said Wolfgang Gressmann, the group’s Iraq director. “They have given terrifying accounts of IS moving them from neighborhood to neighborhood, and from house to house, in tactics identical with being used as human shields.”

[Featured Image by John Moore/Getty Images]

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