Iraq special forces advanced into Mosul while ISIS militants killed 20

The battle to regain control of Mosul is continuing and Iraq's special forces are working to fully clear neighborhoods on Mosul's eastern edge of Islamic State (ISIS) militants. This is a slow-paced work because the advancing troops have to penetrate into populated areas deeper inside Mosul. In view of the presence of a large number of civilians, they cannot resort to airstrikes.
Meanwhile suspected ISIS militants had struck far from the front lines. They resorted to two bombings that killed at least 20 people. One of these was a suicide attack directed against Shiite pilgrims north of Baghdad which killed at least 11 people.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 6 November 2016.

There are reports of some civilians fleeing from the combat zone, while ISIS militants are holding others back for use as human shields. This is making it harder for Iraqi commanders on the ground to get approval for requests for U.S.-led coalition air strikes.
Incidentally, Iraq's special forces are some of the country's best troops, but they depend to a great extent on air support to clear the terrain.
It may be recalled that ISIS had captured the city of Mosul in 2014, and have erected fortifications like trenches and berms that have converted the streets and alleyways of a neighborhood into a maze. In addition, concrete blast walls have blocked off access to other areas.
In April 2015, Iraqi security forces had succeeded in driving out ISIS militants from Tikrit which is located about 80 miles north of Baghdad.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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ISIS using human shields to counter attacks by Iraq military

The battle for Fallujah is on and ISIS is making use of human shields to counter the Iraqi attacks. As per UNHCR, 'several hundred' innocent families lie trapped in the center of trying to retain hold of Islamic State's Iraqi hub of Fallujah. They have resorted to using human shields and the United Nations refugee agency has termed it as a 'human catastrophe'.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 31 May 2016.

Spokesman of UNHCR has informed that nearly 50,000 people remained trapped. It seems the ISIS are locking some families down inside the hospital building. They are instilling fear in their minds by saying that the army and militia are coming to kill them. ISIS fighters have even resorted to distributing some sweets among the kids in an effort to win them over - ISIS probably understand for the first time that the net is closing around them and that the end is close.
The trapped people are facing lack of food, medicine, safe drinking water and electricity in the city and these were pushing them to the brink of desperation. The ISIS militants are using tunnels and deploying snipers.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Kurdish and Arab forces battle with ISIS near Raqqa

There is no sight of an end to the war against ISIS in Iraq and, Kurdish and Arab forces have begun a new assault near Raqqa which is the group's de-facto capital in Syria. This assault is against the backdrop of offensive of Iraqi troops against the jihadists in the city of Fallujah for a second day.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 24 May 2016.

These are believed to be the most serious ground operations against IS since the militants declared their self-styled 'caliphate' covering large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014. The purpose of the assault in Raqqa province by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was to dislodge IS from the northern part and, simultaneously, secure other areas.
The SDF is having the backing of the US - it is a seven-month-old alliance of Syrian militias, including the Kurdish YPG and with the help of American-led coalition airstrikes, the YPG has successfully driven the jihadist organisation from large areas of northern Syria in the last year. However, the activists claim that in Raqqa, IS fighters make use of civilians as shields in Raqqa and, therefore, will be found in the same building. It seems inside a civilian building, there will be groups of ISIS fighters.
Moreover, they also use schools as places to stay. The reason is that schools have basements which protects them from the air strikes.


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