Battle For Mosul: Iraqi Forces Make Significant Gains Against ISIS

The Iraqi army, which has been embroiled in a long-drawn battle against the ISIS (Islamic State) to regain the city of Mosul has made significant advances in the past few days, CNN reports. Iraqi forces have reportedly managed to take control of several government buildings and the Mosul University complex from ISIS fighters. Parts of the east banks of the Tigris river have also fallen into the control of the Iraqi military. The development was confirmed by a senior Iraqi military official Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi. General Abdul also confirmed that “hundreds” of ISIS fighters were killed on Friday when the Iraqi army made its advance into Mosul. The government buildings that the Iraqi army now controls was the venue for several ISIS war crimes.

Iraqi forces fully recapture Mosul University from Daesh: Sourcehttps://t.co/F0XON1XsW6 pic.twitter.com/rXoJrokK1w

— Press TV (@PressTV) January 14, 2017

This is considered to be a significant advancement on the part of the Iraqi military more than three months after the battle for the control of Mosul started back in October 2016. While the Iraqi military was able to make significant initial gains, ISIS forces were able to keep control of the core areas of the city more than three months into the battle. However, following Friday’s developments, there is a possibility of Iraqi forces being able to speed up the process of regaining complete control of Mosul in the days to come. Nearly four months into the battle for Mosul, counterterror forces of the Iraqi military reached the east bank of the Tigris river for the first time since the start of the operations back in October last year. This was also the first time Iraqi forces reached deep into Mosul after they were driven out of the city by attacking ISIS fighters back in 2014.

According to experts, this new phase in the battle for Mosul has progressed faster than expected. They attribute the increase in pace in advancements owing to the fact that the Iraqi army received renewed support from the Iraqi Federal Police. In fact, it is now believed that the anti-ISIS coalition fighting in Mosul includes Iraqi counterterrorism forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and Shiite paramilitary forces.

As for the government buildings that fell into the control of Iraqi forces, it is now believed that the buildings were used as killing fields by the ISIS. Iraqi forces also discovered a factory that was reportedly used by the ISIS to make chemical and toxic material in explosives. This facility was discovered on Friday at an area known as al-Bir, located about 45 kilometers (27 miles) south of Mosul. While it is not known whether the factory made chemical weapons, Iraqi officials have said that the ISIS has used chemical weapons such as mustard gas in the past.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials confirmed that ISIS fighters, in an attempt to slow down the advancement of the military blew up all five bridges that lead into Mosul. This was confirmed by Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah, commander of Iraqi forces in Nineveh province. These bridges were however already in a damaged state thanks to U.S. led airstrikes last week. While the ISIS has in the past too destroyed bridges to stop the advancement of Iraqi troops, the forces were still able to make inroads by building temporary floating structures to cross the rivers. The fastened pace of operations against the ISIS was also confirmed by US Air Force Col. John L. Dorrian, who is the spokesman for the US-led operation against ISIS. In a video conference aired live on Tuesday, he confirmed that Iraqi forces were making progress with the assistance of coalition airstrikes.

The city of Mosul is the last major holdout of the ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq. The city has been under the control of the ISIS since 2014. Earlier in 2016, Iraqi forces were able to capture the city of Fallujah from ISIS.

[Featured Image by Khalid Mohammed/AP Images]