Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

Attacks Intensify on Mosul, So Does Death and Destruction, Iraqi Sectarian Government Exiles Sunnis from Salahuddin District

November 21, 2016

(updated on November 23, 2016)

Editor's Note:

The US-led coalition which fights the Islamic State in northern Iraq consists of US-led NATO forces, Iraqi Shi'i government forces, Iranian-backed Shi'i militias, and Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The coalition's continuous attacks have resulted in the killing of thousands of Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arabs and the eviction of thousands as a result of the destruction of their cities and villages.

Millions of Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arabs are expected to leave their cities and villages as the fighting intensifies towards an all-attack by the US-led coalition on Mosul. The end outcome is evicting (ethnic cleansing of) Sunni Muslim Arabs from the upper Euphrates region of northwestern Iraq and northeastern Syria. 

The following news stories from the official US and Iraqi websites do not mention any civilian casualties, as all reported deaths are claimed to be for ISIS members, who were killed in air strikes and bombardment on cities! Needless to say that independent sources are hard to find or report from. Thus, the following is a documentation of the death and destruction, as reported basically in such official website. Other independent reporting will be presented whenever available.

 

Salahuddin officials deport a complete Iraqi civilian neighborhood for collusion with ISIS, November 20, 2016	Mosul civilians trapped under the coalition attacks, November 17, 2016

Mosul refugees, November 2016 in	Mosul refugees, November 2016 yeqein

 

Civilians Are Left Dying in Mosul

By Mariam Al Hijab        

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, November 21, 2016 

The Mosul operation clearly shows that Western countries so fond of blaming Damascus and Moscow for “inhumane military actions” in Syria don’t even care for civilians in war-torn areas.

On October 17, the world saw the beginning of the offensive of the so-called “coalition forces” consisting of the Peshmerga troops, Shia and Sunni militia and the Iraqi army. The aerial support is provided by the US-led coalition aviation. US and British Spec Ops, American, French and British artillery and military advisers along with western PSCs are aiding the operation forces on the ground.

Even before the operation started, international humanitarian organizations, journalists and politicians of various countries forecast the aggravation of the humanitarian situation. It was clear that ISIS wouldn’t let the Mosul population leave the city to use the residents as human shields. The Pentagon, which basically supervised the arrangement of the operation and is controlling it now, initially planned no humanitarian corridors for civilians. This reminds us of the assault on Iraq’s Fallujah in 2004 after it was captured by Muqtada al-Sadr’s militants. Then, the US military gave one week for civilians to leave the city without providing any humanitarian corridors or camps. Afterwards, all the residents who stayed in the city were considered terrorists’ accomplices. Thousands of civilians fell victims to the assault that followed.

Now, Mosul and its suburbs are witnessing airstrikes on living districts that destroy schools, mosques and residential houses; more than 1.5 thousand civilians were killed the previous month. Not all of them became the victims of the Coalition’s jets – both Western and Iraqi artillery, which is far from being accurate, also contributes to the death toll. As analysts predicted, the government troops (the Western special forces and mercenaries are fighting in Mosul suburbs) shoot at almost anything that moves while operating within the city borders. Such a tactic resulted in dozens if not hundreds of civilians killed, as revealed in the footages of Iraqi journalists advancing with the army. The troops seem to tag the Mosul population as ISIS accomplices not to risk their own lives.

Meanwhile, hundreds of the city and local villages’ residents have been executed or murdered by terrorists themselves. For instance, one can be killed for violating the ban on using mobile phones, alleged assistance to the coalition forces or simply for an attempt to leave the city without the required fee or permit.

Another side of the humanitarian disaster in Mosul is the refugee crisis.

The UN reports that more than 50 thousand people have left the city and its outskirts since the operation started. Only 12 thousand of them received the required aid. The number of refugees from the war-torn region is projected to reach one million by midwinter. Before the operation, it was stated that most of them would be placed in Iraq’s Ninawa and Anbar provinces. But as for November 1, the camps there were filled up to 50%.

Meanwhile, at the urge or direction of the US Command, neither Iraqi nor foreign humanitarian organizations are permitted to enter the battle zone. No one cares about the locals suffering from the shortage of medicine, water and food or qualified medical aid.

Actually, people have nowhere to go to, they just can’t escape from the war. They have basically only one way – to move to Europe. Is the West ready for it? That’s unlikely. It would rather keep the Mosul residents in the city until the coalition eliminates everyone it calls “terrorists”.

Mariam Al Hijab is a freelance journalist with the Inside Syria Media Center.

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Civilians flee as Shi'ite groups close in on flashpoint town west of Mosul

Wed Nov 23, 2016 | 9:10am EST

By Isabel Coles and Saif Hameed

Reuters, ERBIL/BAGHDAD, Iraq

 Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have fled Tal Afar as Shi'ite paramilitary groups close in the Islamic State-held town on the road between Mosul and Raqqa, the main cities of the militant group's self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The exodus from Tal Afar, 60 km (40 miles) west of Mosul, is causing concern among humanitarian organizations as some of the fleeing civilians are heading deeper into insurgents' territory, where aid cannot be sent to them, provincial officials said.

Popular Mobilisation units, a coalition of mostly Iranian-trained and backed militias, are trying to encircle Tal Afar, a mostly ethnic Turkmen town, as part of the offensive to capture Mosul, the last major city stronghold of Islamic State in Iraq.

About 3,000 families have left the town, with about half heading southwest, toward Syria, and half northward, into Kurdish-held territory, said Nuraldin Qablan, a Tal Afar representative in the Nineveh provincial council, now based in the Kurdish capital Erbil.

"We ask Kurdish authorities to open a safe passage for them," he told Reuters.

He said Islamic State started on Sunday night to allow people to leave after it fired mortars at Popular Mobilisation positions at the airport, south of the city, and Popular Mobilisation forces responded.

The offensive started on Oct. 17 with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition. It is turning into the most complex campaign in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and empowered the nation's Shi'ite majority.

The people fleeing Tal Afar are from the Sunni community, which makes up a majority in the Nineveh province in and around Mosul. The town also had a Shi'ite community, which fled in 2014 when the hardline Sunni group swept through the region.

Turkey is alarmed that regional rival Iran could extend its power through proxy groups to an area close to the Turkish and Syrian borders, where Ankara is backing rebels opposed to the Russian and Iranian-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Citing its close ties to Tal Afar's Turkmen's population, Turkey has threatened to intervene to prevent revenge killings should Popular Mobilisation forces, known in Arabic as Hashid Shaabi, storm the town.

"People are fleeing due to the Hashid's advance, there are great fears among the civilians," said Qablan, who is also the deputy head of Nineveh's provincial council.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi tried to allay fears of ethnic and sectarian killings in Tal Afar, saying any force sent to recapture it would reflect the city's diversity.

Cutting the road to Tal Afar would seal off Mosul as the city is already surrounded to the north, south and east by Iraqi government and Kurdish peshmerga forces.

Iraq's U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service unit breached Islamic State's defenses in east Mosul at the end of October and is fighting to expand a foothold it gained there.

AIR STRIKES ON MOSUL

Iraqi military estimates put the number of insurgents in Mosul at 5,000 to 6,000, facing a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government units, peshmerga fighters and Shi'ite militias.

Mosul's capture is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have withdrawn to a remote area near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat.

A Mosul resident said air strikes have intensified on the western part of the city, which is divided by the Tigris river running through its center.

The strikes targeted an industrial area where Islamic State is thought to be making booby traps and transforming vehicles into car bombs, he said.

The militants are dug in among more than a million civilians as a defense tactic to hamper the strikes. They are moving around the city through tunnels, driving suicide car bombs into advancing troops and hitting them with sniper and mortar fire.

The Iraqi authorities did not release an overall estimate of the casualties, but the United Nations warned on Saturday that growing numbers of wounded civilians and military are overwhelming the capacity of the government and international aid groups.

More than 68,000 people are registered as displaced because of the fighting, moving from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates.

The figure does not include the thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city as human shields. It also does not included the 3,000 families which have fled Tal Afar.

In some cases, men of fighting age were separated from those groups and summarily killed, according to residents and rights groups.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Dominic Evans)

***

The following are news stories from a pro-Iraqi government website (http://www.iraqinews.com/) :

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Displaced people from Mosul exceed 62,000

by Loaa Adel Nov 19, 2016, 2:50 pm

Nineveh – (IraqiNews.com) --

General Manager of Branches Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Migration and Displacement, Diaa Sallal, announced on Saturday, that the number of displaced people from Mosul exceeded 65 thousand, and pointed out that the ministry continue providing aids to them.

Sallal said in a press statement, “The ministry’s teams received, yesterday, more than 3700 displaced persons from several areas,” noting that, “26 of them were wounded due to the heavy shelling of ISIS terrorist gangs in Hayy al-Samah and al-Qadisiyah al-Thaniyah, in the western coast of Mosul.”

“3001 displaced persons were received from the neighborhoods of the western coast, including the areas of Adan, Zahraa, Bakr, Tahrir, Hayy al-Qadisiyah, Zohour, Eintsar, Samah, Khadraa and Shafaq,” Sallal explained. “301 persons migrated from Tel Serwal in Mahlabeya, in the western axis of the city of Mosul,” Sallal added.

“251 displaced persons from the villages of Sedyrat, Haigel and al-Sobeih in Sharqat district were received, as well as 150 displaced persons from Hawija district,” Sallal said.

Sallal also revealed that the total number of displaced people since the start of the battles to liberate Nineveh reached 62399 persons, and emphasized that the ministry is providing the needed aid to the families in displaced camps and liberated areas.

Salahuddin officials deport a complete neighborhood for collusion with ISIS

by Mohamed Mostafa Nov 20, 2016, 7:52 am

Salahuddin – (IraqiNews.com) Officials at Salahuddin governorate decided Saturday to deport the residents of a whole district to another location for colluding with the Islamic State and hiding the dead bodies of its militants.

Security leaderships decided to deport the residents of al-Askari district under tight security measures for their collusion with the militant group, said Ali al-Dawdah, head of al-Sharqat precinct.

“There are ISIS accomplices in the neighborhood…the district’s residents are part of the group’s accommodators,” said Dawdah. “A group of ISIS militants had killed five members of al-Hashed al-Shaabi…security forces killed five of those, two of them in the Askari district, but people hid their dead bodies and we could not find them.”

Dawdah said the incident was the only security violation that took place on that day, adding that the whole region was under security control.

“Whoever cooperates with ISIS is one of them, and we will never accept that someone collaborates with that terrorist group,” Dawdah stated.

International politicians and human rights organizations fears have been increasing lately as for possible retaliatory actions against the people of towns liberated from ISIS by Iraqi government forces or popular militias. The Iraqi government and militias have, however, assured on civilians safety after the end of operations.

ISIS remains in control over the western coast of Sharqat, using that location as a launching point for attacks on government facilities.

Turkey says will not keep silence over al-Hashed al-Shaabi’s Tal Afar incursion

by Mohamed Mostafa Nov 20, 2016, 10:12 am3 Comments

Baghdad – (IraqiNews.com)

Turkey has said it will not remain silent on military advancements by al-Hashed al-Shaabi militia inside the mostly-Turkmen Iraqi town of Tal Afar, Nineveh, reminding the Iraqi government of what it described as its earlier pledges not to engage the militia in battles against Islamic State militants there.

“(Iraqi) Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had pledged through the United States that al-Hashed al-Shaabi would not enter Tal Afar, but on the ground, it seems they did enter,” Turkish presidency spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said in a press statement on Sunday.

Tal Afar has been a concern for Turkey which had said it feared Shia paramilitary forces engaged in combat could carry out any retaliatory measures against Sunni Turkmen residents of the town. Turkey’s deployment of troops in Nineveh has also triggered diplomatic war of words with Iraq. While Ankara maintains its presence is merely to train locals on combating ISIS, Baghdad says the deployment and Ankara’s concerns over Tal Afar were a pretext for intervention into the country’s affairs.

On Saturday, al-Hashed al-Shaabi media said the militia successfully liberated the strategic military airport of Tal Afar, proceeding to chase fleeing ISIS militants towards the town. Al-Hashed said the recapture of the airport represented a major step since it cut a major supply line for ISIS from Syria’s town of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold.

Kalin said his country’s government “will not remain silent”, and “warns the Iraqi government, through the United States, that it is ought to honor its commitments.”

***

The following are news stories from the US Department of Defense website (http://www.defense.gov/News) :

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIL Cities in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 23, 2016 —

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil rig.

-- Near Raqqah, four strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed two vehicles, an oil tanker truck, an oil pump and a vehicle bomb; and damaged a road.

-- Near Ayn Isa, two strikes destroyed a vehicle and an anti-air artillery system.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed three oil wellheads, three vehicles and two oil tanker trucks.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed six ISIL-held buildings, a mortar system, a vehicle, a weapons cache, a supply cache and an artillery system; and damaged five supply routes and a bridge.

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, a mortar system and a weapons cache.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed inoperable coalition equipment.

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIL Cities in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 20, 2016 —

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 17 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Raqqa, six strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; damaged a supply route and an ISIL training camp; and destroyed seven oil production machines, one vehicle. 

-- Near Ayn Isa, nine strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units, damaged a supply route, and destroyed two artillery pieces, two fighting positions and a tank.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed one oil well head.

-- Near Manbij, a strike destroyed an armored vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted six strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a vehicle bomb.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five ISIL-held buildings, a roadside bomb, two vehicle bombs, a vehicle bomb-making facility, and a mortar system.

***

IU.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIL Cities in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 19, 2016 —

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 19 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil well head. 

-- Near Raqqah, two strikes engaged an ISIL storage facility and destroyed seven oil storage tanks and four oil transfer compressors.

-- Near Ayn Isa, 13 strikes engaged 10 ISIL tactical units, damaged a supply route, and destroyed five fighting positions, a roadside bomb, a bomb-making facility, and an artillery system.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed four oil well heads.

-- Near Tamakh, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted eight strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:   

-- Near Bashir, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL-held building and a mortar system. 

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, suppressed a mortar system, and destroyed an ISIL headquarters building, a weapons cache, five ISIL-held buildings, three mortar systems, two vehicles, and a watercraft.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed a bunker.

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIL Cities in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 18, 2016 —

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 16 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Raqqah, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL-held buildings, a fighting position, and oil production equipment.

-- Near Ayn Isa, 10 strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed seven fighting positions, two vehicles, a vehicle bomb, a checkpoint, a bunker, and damaged a supply route.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed three oil wellheads, three oil tanker trucks, and oil production equipment, and damaged two supply routes.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 12 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL-held buildings, two tunnels, and a vehicle.

-- Near Qaim, two strikes destroyed an ISIL weapons cache.

-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed a mortar system and suppressed a bunker.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units; destroyed five mortar systems, two ISIL-held buildings; damaged a fighting position, a tunnel, and a bunker; and suppressed a mortar system.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed a bunker.

-- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

***

U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIL Cities in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 17, 2016 —

Strikes in Syria

Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven strikes in Syria:

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike damaged four supply routes.

-- Near Ayn Isa, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed an artillery system, a mortar system, and damaged a supply route.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

-- Near Dayr Palymyra, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 11 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and destroyed nine ISIL compounds and a command-and-control node.

-- Near Haditha, a strike destroyed inoperable coalition equipment.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, four watercraft, three storage containers, two fighting positions, two vehicles, a bunker, a trench, and an ISIL-held building; degraded two tunnels; and suppressed two tactical units and a rocket-propelled grenade system.

-- Near Rawah, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL-held building; destroyed two bunkers, two buildings, a bomb storage facility, and a bomb cache; and damaged another bomb cache.

-- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL headquarters building.

***

Officials Provide Details of Latest Counter-ISIL Strikes in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 16, 2016 —

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 10 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, damaged a supply route and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Shadaddi, two strikes damaged two ISIL supply routes.

-- Near Ayn Isa, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and damaged two fighting positions, a vehicle and a supply route.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed six oil tanker trucks and three oil wellheads.

Strikes in Iraq

Rocket artillery and fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an anti-aircraft artillery system.

-- Near Haditha, two strikes destroyed three bunkers.

-- Near Mosul, eight strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed three vehicle-borne bombs, three mortar systems, two vehicles, two ISIL-held buildings, a weapons cache, an anti-aircraft artillery system, a front-end loader, a vehicle-bomb facility and a command-and-control node; damaged a supply route and two tunnels; and suppressed a tank.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL armored personnel carrier.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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