ABU SAIF, IRAQ // Iraqi troops worked to secure a strategic hilltop overlooking Mosul’s international airport and a nearby military base on Tuesday, fearing the ISIL extremist group, which still holds both facilities, may launch another wave of nighttime counterattacks.
The US-backed Iraqi forces advancing on western Mosul from the south have not seen the waves of car bombs that troops confronted when they moved into eastern Mosul late last year. But the latest battle, launched on Sunday, is still in its early stages.
As the militarised federal police stationed in the hilltop village of Abu Saif scanned a nearby cluster of houses for militants, they spotted around a dozen civilians waving white flags. The soldiers called out for them to approach.
“They’re scared,” said federal policeman Hashem Ali, adding that he has seen the extremists target fleeing civilians with sniper and mortar fire.
The troops expect to encounter far more civilians once they enter western Mosul, the more densely populated half of Iraq’s second largest city. Iraqi forces declared the half of the city stretching east of the Tigris River “fully liberated” last month after nearly three months of fierce fighting, but still occasionally come under attack there.
Since the new push for western Mosul began two days ago, Iraqi forces have retaken some 120 square kilometres south of the city, said Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, an Iraqi military spokesman.
ISIL mortar rounds hit Iraqi positions on Tuesday, and rockets struck the main staging base to the south, in Hamam Al Alil, which was captured last year. The extremists have also deployed car bombs south of Mosul, though not as many as in earlier stages of the four-month-old offensive. Four suicide car bombs struck Iraqi forces on Monday, and another five were destroyed by air strikes before hitting their targets, federal police Major General Saleh Nasr said.* Associated Press
