Islamic State Holds Up Iraqi Army South Of Mosul

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Islamic State fighters on Wednesday kept up their fierce defense of the southern approaches to Mosul which has held up Iraqi troops on the southern front and forced an elite army unit east of the city to put its more rapid advance on hold.

Ten days into the offensive, Iraqi army and federal police units are trying to dislodge the militants from villages in the region of Shora, 30 km (20 miles) south of Iraq’s second largest city.

The frontlines in other areas have moved much closer to the edges of Mosul, the last major city under control of the militants in Iraq, who have held it since 2014.

The elite army unit which moved in from the east has paused its advance as it approaches built-up areas, waiting for the other attacking forces to close the gap.

“As Iraqi forces move closer to Mosul, we see that Daesh resistance is getting stronger,” said Maj. Chris Parker, a coalition spokesman at the Qayyara airbase south of Mosul that serves as a hub for the campaign.

The combat ahead is also likely to get more deadly as 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case United Nations’ forecasts see up to a million people being uprooted.

U.N. aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 10,600 to flee their homes. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told Reuters on Tuesday that a mass exodus could happen, maybe within the next few days.

In the worst case scenario, Grande said it was also possible that Islamic State fighters could resort to “rudimentary chemical weapons” to hold back the impending assault.

The battle may become the biggest yet in the 13 years of turmoil unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the fall of Mosul would mark the group’s effective defeat in Iraq. It was from its Grand Mosque that Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a “caliphate” that also spans parts of Syria. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday the attack on Raqqa, Islamic State’s main stronghold in Syria, would start while the battle of Mosul is unfolding.