Iraqi Forces Look To Bridge Tigris As Casualties Rise In Mosul

Iraqi forces on Monday seized control of a key bridge in the city of Mosul, as they push forward with their week-old offensive to clear Islamic State militants from the western side of the city.

As Iraqi ground troops pushed into western Mosul on Friday, the country’s air force struck Islamic State group targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by the militants.

“The roads are random”, he said, which makes it more hard for his men to set up roadblocks to stop auto bombs, a difficulty that foreshadows obstacles Iraqi forces expect to face in the narrow alleyways of western Mosul’s historic district.

The United Nations has warned up to 400,000 civilians could be displaced by the new offensive amid food and fuel shortages.

The strikes come as Iraqi forces are pressing their attack on “IS” forces still holding the western part of the city of Mosul, the last major IS bastion in Iraq.

Despite denials from the USA military, Reuters has confirmed that Shiite militias closely aligned with the Iranian government and the Islamic Republic’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah are actively participating in the offensive to liberate of Mosul.

The Pentagon’s adoption of the term signals the military bureaucracy is getting in line with the new leadership at the White House, which has indicated a strong preference for ISIS, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, not the alternative English acronym ISIL – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The push to take the airport, which has been led by Iraqi Federal Police, is a promising start to what is expected to be a hard and bloody fight to completely evict the Islamic State from the city.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday promised that Iraqi forces would do all they could to keep civilians safe.

The forces have also entered the adjacent neighbourhood of Wadi Hajar and are battling the IS, according to the source.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have fully liberated al-Yarmouk power station in Western Mosul.

The month-long strategic review, which Trump requested January 28, is expected to include proposals to send more US troops to both countries, deploy more USA forces near the front lines, give greater authority to ground commanders, and possibly provide weapons to Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria.

The Pentagon released a memorandum Friday afternoon dated February 13 outlining the official change.

But experts say western Mosul, with its narrow streets and some 750,000 civilian residents, would be much tougher to capture against an estimated 2,000 IS fighters.

Iraqi officials did not say whether the mission was carried in coordination with the government of Bashar al-Assad, which the US opposes.