For the first time in over two years, Iraqi forces broke through Islamic State defence lines in an eastern suburb of Mosul on Monday, taking the battle for the insurgents' stronghold into the city limits for the first time.
This push for Mosul is all the more significant for the Iraqi forces because its self-declared caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, reports say, is still inside the city, and with every passing minute more at the threat of being captured by Iraqi forces.
Iraqi Special Forces on Tuesday advanced into Mosul, which once had a population of 2 million, seizing the state television on the east bank of the Tigris River that divides the city in half.
In an interview on Wednesday, Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of Iraqi Kurdistan’s head, Massoud Barzani, said that, though he has been lying low, Baghdadi is most likely still alive and in the city.
Baghdadi is there and, if he is killed, it will mean the collapse of the whole [ISIS] system.Fuad Hussein
Hussein added that he believes Baghdadi’s presence will complicate matters in Mosul, as his presence ISIS’ capital may result in the jihadists resorting to desperate tactics, however he added that his eventual demise will speed efforts to retake the country.
It is obvious that they will lose, but not how long this will take to happen.Fuad Hussein
Troops Move Forward
Earlier, Troops of the Iraqi army's Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) moved forward on Gogjali, an industrial zone on the eastern outskirts. They then reached Karama district, their first advance into the Mosul itself, an officer said.
"They have entered Mosul," he said. "They are fighting now in Hay (district) al-Karama."
A Kurdish peshmerga intelligence source said he received a report saying seven Islamic State militants were killed in the Aden district, adjacent to Karama, and two of their vehicles destroyed. Iraqi state television said there were clashes inside the city between residents and Islamic State fighters.
The fighting ahead is likely to be more difficult as civilians still live there, unlike most villages taken so far by the Iraqi forces which were emptied of their Christian population.
Islamic State singled out religious minorities in northern Iraq, including Christians and Yazidis, for killing and eviction after leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in 2014 over territory they captured there and in neighbouring Syria.
(Source: The Independent)
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