US-backed Iraqi forces yesterday launched a large-scale military operation to dislodge Islamic State group militants from the western half of Mosul, a battle that is expected to be prolonged and difficult due to a densely packed civilian population and older, narrower streets.
In a briefed televised speech on state TV, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the operation, saying the government forces were moving to “liberate the people of Mosul from Daesh oppression and terrorism forever,” using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
Al-Abadi called on security forces to deal with civilians properly and respect human rights.
Photo: Reuters
Plumes of smoke were seen rising into the sky early yesterday morning as US-led coalition jets struck militant positions southwest of Mosul and militarized police fired artillery toward the city.
Heavily armed police units were getting ready to move north with their armored vehicles from a base just southwest of the city.
“This is zero hour and we are going to end this war, God willing,” police officer Mahmoud Mansour said as he prepared to move out.
The immediate objective of the operation was to take the villages on the southern outskirts of Mosul airport, a police spokesman told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with standard procedures.
Police units quickly moved into the village of Athba southwest of the city’s airport, encountering only light resistance, according to a reporter on the scene.
Separately, the army’s 9th armored division moved into the village of Bakhira, also southwest of the city, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said.
Shortly after the announcement, the UN warned that hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside their houses “are at extreme risk” with dwindling fuel and food supplies and scare drinking water and electricity.
“The situation is distressing. People, right now, are in trouble,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande said in a statement. “We are hearing reports of parents struggling to feed their children and to heat their homes.”
Citing informants from inside the western side, the UN said nearly half of all food shops were closed and bakeries had shut down due to a lack of fuel and an inability to purchase costly flour. Prices of kerosene and cooking gas have skyrocketed and many of the most destitute families are burning wood, furniture, plastic or garbage for cooking and heating.
Humanitarian agencies were gearing up to aid 250,000 to 400,000 civilians who may flee due to fighting, the statement said.
The UN estimates that about 750,000 civilians may be left in western Mosul.
The commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, US Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, hailed the Iraqi forces in a statement as an “increasingly capable, formidable, and professional force.”
“Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world, and the Iraqi forces have risen to the challenge,” Townsend said.
“They have taken the fight to the enemy and sacrificed their blood for the people of Iraq and the rest of the world,” he said.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS