Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Associated Press
IRBIL, Iraq
Iraqi troops gained a foothold Tuesday in another neighborhood in Mosul after fierce battles against Islamic State militants dug in behind heavy fortifications, according to a top Iraqi commander.
A new analysis, meanwhile, has found that there is a high risk that IS will deploy chemical weapons against Mosul civilians or Iraqi troops fighting to retake the city. According to IHS Markit, the extremist group has used chemical weapons at least 52 times in Iraq and Syria since 2014, including 19 times in the Mosul area alone.
Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil, of the Iraqi special forces, told The Associated Press that IS fighters were firing rockets and mortars as his forces “cautiously” advanced in the densely populated Zohour neighborhood.
Iraqi troops began their siege of Zohour on Sunday as they fortified their positions in neighborhoods already retaken in eastern Mosul. Suicide bombings, sniper fire and concerns over the safety of civilians – there are 1 million still in Mosul – have combined to slow down progress in the campaign to liberate the city, which began Oct. 17.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari meanwhile told reporters during a visit to Budapest that 1,700 militants have been killed and 120 captured since the battle for Mosul began.