The Military Times stated that a senior Iraqi commander said that Iraqi special forces have retaken 19 neighborhoods on the eastern side of Mosul. They have retaken the districts from the radical groups since the battle began last month. The statement was made on Nov. 30, 2016, by Brigade General Haider Fadhil.
The general said that his troops were almost four kilometers (2.5 miles) away from the Tigris River. The Tigris slices the battleground city in half. The 19 neighborhoods make up less than 30 percent of the city, east of the river.
Last month, the United States federal government propelled a colossal campaign to take back Mosul from ISIS. The battle was fought on many different fronts. The warfare has been in the concentration of the city’s eastern quarters. The Iraqi forces took the lead on the eastern end of Mosul.
The advancement of the campaign has slowed down due to an estimate of one million people within the city limits. The U.S. governed a coalition of the Iraqis and their allies, who are avoiding the use of maximum power, in order to guard civilians. On Wednesday, Fadhil said that the rain has minimized combat in Mosul. Troops of the Iraqi army were widespread across a region to the southeast of Mosul, before they came under fire from militants of the Islamic State. The radicals had automatic weapons.
Yahoo stated that many attacks have occurred since last December. Iraqi forces discovered ISIS was using explosive-carry drones in Syria and Iraq. Findings in Mosul revealed more information about the terrorist organization. The data affirms the extremist group is attempting to construct their own airforce in the war-torn area.
U.S.-led Iraqi forces unmasked another ISIS drone shop in the Iraqi city last week. The aerial view discovered the shop encompassed by a mix of commercial planes. The data also detected homemade planes.
An ISIS fixed-wing drone with a Phantom Quadrotor, which was added to it, was the oddest invention that was found. The circumstances surrounding the creation of the drone are currently unknown. Yahoo stated that there were two theories for the creation of the device of destruction. One, the plane could have been used to drop booby-trapped quadrotors, such as the one used in Iraq, or the aircraft was supposed to drop the quadrotor into the target area, similar to a mother ship.
Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saidi, who trained the U.S Counter-Terrorism Service, said that ISIS surveils with drones. At times, they attach the explosive, which is used to target headquarters and command posts. Nevertheless, al-Saudi did not determine if any of these attacks have been successful.
Furthermore, Yahoo claimed that the device sounds similar to the U.S. Switchblade lethal drone. The drone was developed by the West for targets that were highly valued by insurgent commanders. There have been several pictures of captured American drones in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. Department of Defense reported that General Rupert Jones said the Western invasion of Iraq has made an astonishing recovery. The Levant forces that invaded the Mid-Eastern city have made a drastic recovery in the retaking of Mosul.
In a teleconference broadcasted from Baghdad, Jones said that the coalition training of the Iraqi military has played a significant role in the campaign to overcome the opposing faction. It has been over a year since ISIS has defeated Iraqi armed forces. However, the rival militia continues to resist the U.S.-led coalition that has planned to retake Mosul.
By John A. Federico
Edited by Jeanette Smith
Sources:
The Military Times: Iraq’s special forces control 19 Mosul neighborhoods
Yahoo Tech: Iraqi Officials Find Strange Collection of Makeshift ISIS Drones
The U.S. Department of Defense: Iraqi Forces Make ‘Remarkable Turnaround,’ OIR Official Says
Image Courtesy of David Stanley’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
