Civilians Killed in Airstrike That Hit West Mosul Mosque

Iraqi civilians suffer both from US-led coalition airstrikes and IS terrorists, who deliberately target fleeing civilians to prevent them from escaping in order to use them as human shields against advancing Iraqi forces.

Since the US -backed push to retake western Mosul launched about a week ago, some 28,400 people have been forced to leave their homes, the United Nations reported.

The move, a little more than a week into a major push on Mosul’s west bank, could allow Iraqi forces to extend a floating bridge between the city’s two halves and pile pressure on the jihadists.

The eastern side of Mosul was recaptured last month. Its string of defeats and shrinking territory since 2015 have had the contrary effect of persuading many Sunni Arab tribes and communities that the self-declared Caliphate is coming to an end. They’re stopped at a checkpoint when they arrive and separated.

The attacker collected all the firearms and ammunition from his colleagues, then fled the scene in a police vehicle – presumably to join the Taliban, officials said.

Inside the city, residents described Iraqi forces’ hold on the area as much more tenuous.

Many IS leaders in Iraq had fled towards areas in neighboring Syria controlled by the group, the sources said.

There, the men are separated from the women and children, before they are taken away in buses and military pick-up trucks by the security forces.

“We left at five o’clock this morning”.

But he said the camp, which is run by a local NGO with United Nations support, was struggling with several basic problems. “They recognise that what you are actually signing yourself up to is going to live under a brutal regime”.

Iraqi forces began and offensive to oust IS from Mosul in October a year ago. “The rules were very harsh and food was very expensive – we could only afford to eat rice and bread”, Baidaa said.

Safana, who like many of those fleeing Mosul declined to give her family name, said civilians had been trapped in their homes during heavy clashes.

“The last days were bad”. “We just want to make it through this war”, she said. “But that was okay – the worst was the violence, lashings, executions, cutting people”, Mohammed said.

After months of intense fighting, the USA -supported coalition of Iraqi security forces and militias has eliminated Islamic State presence in eastern Mosul.

U.S. military personnel had largely maintained positions well behind the front lines since returning to Iraq in 2014, but after the battle to retake Mosul launched in October, the administration moved to allow USA trainers and advisers to move closer to the battlefield for the operation, the New York Times reports.