Islamic State militant group (ISIS) fighters are trapping civilians in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and using them as human shields, the Pentagon said Tuesday as an Iraqi and Kurdish ground offensive continues.

“We know they are being used as human shields, absolutely,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

“They are being held there against their will. We have not seen any change in the last day of people leaving or fleeing.”

Aid groups have warned of a mass exodus from Iraq’s second-largest city, with more than a million civilians remaining in the city. Some 700,000 civilians could require assistance, in what would be one of the largest humanitarian crises since the Syrian refugee crisis began.

But civilians have not begun fleeing in large numbers as the battle for the city is yet to intensify near its center, it has mainly focused on the villages on the eastern edge of the city. Kurdish forces, known locally as the peshmerga, are leading the offensive on these areas.

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned of “significant” displacement in the weeks ahead as the offensive edges closer and closer to the city’s center.

“We have put together plans and infrastructure for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis that are as extensive as the military plans,” Obama told reporters.

The Pentagon spokesman said that ISIS is trying to prevent U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on the city by starting tire and oil fires, in the hope that plumes of smoke will make it harder for the coalition to strike its targets. But, while cautioning of a long road to liberating Mosul, Davis spoke of successful advances in the offensive thus far.

“We’ve seen very good progress,” he said. “It’s going to be a while. There’s a lot of movement they have to do to get in (to Mosul) but it’s very much under way.”

Mosul remains ISIS’s largest capture to date and is the symbolic hub of its self-proclaimed caliphate, as it is the location where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself the caliph of the de-facto state and delivered his first sermon.

newsweek.com

An Iranian-backed commander in Iraq who is part of a group of Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)has said his group does not need “anyone’s” permission to fight to retake Mosul from the Sunni Islamic State.

The leader compared the group to the killers of a revered Islamic figure whose death separated Islam into the two Sunni and Shiite sects.

Qais al-Khazali, leader of the PMF’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) militia, called for “vengeance and retribution” against the Sunni jihadist group, prompting fears that his comments may instigate sectarian brutality against the people of Sunni-majority Mosul.

Khazali is already dealing with a strained relationship with the U.S. military. His militia had been linked to at least 6,000 attacks against the U.S. military in Iraq as of 2011 and about five years later appeared to threaten the lives of some U.S. marines deployed to Iraq.

The AAH commander’s comments about the upcoming Mosul offensive came on Tuesday, the day that marked the religious Muslim festival of Ashara.

While Muslims across the world take part in the event through prayer, voluntary fasting, parades, and marches, the day is especially important to Shiites. Some adherents of Shiite Islam participate in self-flagellation to mourn the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Imam Hussein who was killed at the Battle of Karbala almost 1,400 years ago by forces loyal to Yazid bin Muawiyyah, Islam’s sixth caliph.

Although Imam Hussein is adored by both Sunnis and Shiites alike, Islam separated into Sunnis and Shiites after his death.

In a video posted on Kurdish news outlet Rudaw, he said:

In this day and age when our youth in the prime of life… Set out for the battlefronts to fight the filthiest of the creations of Allah… When they fight, they are killing the the enemies of Hussein. The enemies of Hussein are the enemies of the Messenger of Allah. They are the enemies of Allah…

The liberation of Mosul will be the revenge against the killers of Hussein, because these [ISIS] are their grandsons. Allah willing, the liberation of Mosul will be vengeance and retribution against the killers of Hussein.”

There has been debate lately as to whether the PMF, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or al-Hashd al-Shabi, should participate in the offensive to recapture Mosul given that some of the Shiite militias were accused of torturing “hundreds” of Sunni fighters after they helped the Iraqi troops recapture Fallujah, in Anbar province from ISIS.

Some Shiite militias were also accused of looting and extrajudicial killings after the U.S.-backed Iraqi forces seized back Tikrit in Salah al-Din province from ISIS.

Nevertheless, the commander, in the video posted on Rudaw said:

Dear brothers, the Popular Mobilization Units must participate in the liberation of Mosul. The Popular Mobilization Units will participate in it. We are not asking for anyone’s permission. The PMU will participate in the battle for the liberation of Mosul.

The U.S.-led coalition seems weary to work with some of the Iran-supported PMF units, noting it “will not support units which it has concerns about, including certain Shia militia units,” according to Tobias Ellwood, British Minister for the Middle East. He and the Pentagon have acknowledged that the Iraqi government will ultimately decide who will participate in the offensive.

Although the Iraqi government is supposed to have the last word on who will engage in the attack, it has expressed concern earlier this year that the PMF may have become too large and influential to control or fail.

Citing estimates from the Iraqi government and the Shiite militia force itself, the Associated Press (AP) reported in March that “the more than 50 Shiite militias in Iraq,” many of them backed by Iran, “have between 60,000 and 140,000 fighters… They are backed by tanks and weapons, and have their own intelligence agency, operations rooms and court of law.”

Although the PMU is predominantly Shiite, often backed by Iran, there are a number of Sunni units and at least one Christian militia as well as some fighters from other sects and denominations.

So far, the Iraqi Security Forces, the United States military, the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga, and U.S. designated terrorist Sheikh Akram al Kabi, the leader of the PMF’s Shiite Iraqi militia known as Harakat al Nujaba, will all be fighting to push ISIS out of Mosul. Kabi predicted the entire Shiite-led and Iran-supported PMF coalition would participate as well.

breitbart.com

U.S. officials expect Islamic State to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to defend Mosul from an assault from Iraqi and Kurdish forces, though the terror group’s ability to develop such weapons are limited.

One official told Reuters that U.S. forces have gathered ISIS shell fragments to test for chemical weapons because the group has been known to use mustard gas in the past.

U.S. officials said in a previously undisclosed statement that it had confirmed the presence of a sulfur mustard agent on ISIS munitions on Oct. 5. The terror group has targeted local forces, not the U.S.

“Given ISIL’s reprehensible behavior and flagrant disregard for international standards and norms, this event is not surprising,” a second U.S. official told Reuters.

Officials don’t believe Islamic State has been successful in fully developing chemical weapons with lethal effects. Conventional weapons were still the most dangerous threat as Iraqi and Kurdish forces advance.

More than 100 U.S. troops are assisting Iraqi and Kurdish forces involved in the assault. They’re tasked with advising commanders and helping ensure the coalition’s air campaign hit the right targets, officials said.

Meanwhile, as the fight for Mosul ramps up, the U.S. said it believes Islamic State fighters are using civilians as human shields as coalition forces move to the group’s stronghold in Mosul.

Around 700,000 civilians are believed to be living in Mosul. President Barack Obama said there are plans in place for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis as the offensive wears on.

The U.S.-backed coalition said they have driven Islamic State out of at least 10 villages surrounding the city. Iraqi forces are still believed to be at least 12 miles outside of Mosul.

foxnews.com

Iraqi warplanes targeted a convoy of Daesh (ISIL and ISIS) terrorists on Monday as they were fleeing the battle in Mosul, a source said.

tasnimnews.com

Following the start of Mosul operation, the Islamic State (IS) militants have reportedly begun to flee to Syria from Baaj area in eastern Mosul.

Saido Chato, the head of the Kurdish Brotherhood and Coexistence Bloc at the Nineveh provincial council told BasNews that the anti-IS global coalition warplanes should heavily bombard the route which the militants are taking to flee from Baaj to Syria.

The official said that the militants may also take the Yezidi captives with them to Raqqa, the IS stronghold in Syria.

According to local sources, the foreign jihadists are fleeing to Syria and the Iraqi IS militants remain in the city, Chato said.

He called on Mosul residents to stay in their houses and keep away from the IS positions in the city.

The Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi officially announced the start of the Mosul offensive early morning on Monday, and up to 4,000 Peshmerga troops are taking part in the operation on three fronts to liberate the nearby IS-held villages as part of the agreement between Erbil and Baghdad.

basnews.com

Iraqi media outlets reported on Monday, that the Islamic State converted the mosques of Mosul into military barracks and prevented prayers inside them.

Al Sumaria News stated, “The ISIS gangs prevented prayer in a number of Mosul mosques, in order to convert them into caches of weapons and military barracks for its members to protect them against the air strikes of the international coalition and Iraqi Air Force.”

“The ISIS gangs are using mosques as headquarters for their criminal operations in order to use the attacks of security forces on the mosques as a media event,” Al Sumaria added.

The Islamic State in Mosul is started to collapse after large numbers of its members escaped due to the start of the battle to liberate the city.

iraqinews.com

Kurdish Peshmerga forces liberated seven villages bordering Mosul Monday, as the battle to reclaim Iraq’s second city from Islamic State forces draws ever closer to its borders.

The Peshmerga fighters gained control of the villages after launching an attack on three fronts, an official said.

The villages include Kurdish, Arab and Christian ones, Peshmerga spokesman Brigadier Halgurd Hikmat said. He added that fierce fighting between the two sides is ongoing.

Peshmerga troops are fighting alongside Iraqi security forces to dislodge Islamic State extremist militia from Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

Peshmerga forces also took control of the main roads near al-Hamdaniya district and advanced about 5 kilometres towards the Assyrian town of Bartella, Hikmat said.

Peshmerga spokesman Jabar al-Yawar told dpa that the operation started at 5 am (0200 GMT). “Our forces are constantly advancing … I can tell you now that we are advancing to reach our goals,” he said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had announced early Monday that the long-awaited operation to free Mosul from the Islamic State extremist organization has begun.

Mosul, which is located in Nineveh province, is the largest city controlled by the Sunni extremist group, with a population of more than 2 million before the conflict.

The battle is expected to be a decisive moment in Iraq’s fight against Islamic State, which al-Abadi has vowed will be driven out of the country this year.

Islamic State overran Mosul in mid-2014 at the beginning of a lightning offensive that saw it seize swathes of Sunni Arab northern and western Iraq as Iraqi army and police units collapsed in the face of its onslaught.

aboutcroatia.net

Iranian forces launched air defense drills on Monday in the central province of Isfahan, Fars news agency reported, aiming to display its ability to safeguard the country’s airspace.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Air Force (IRIAF) is holding the three-day maneuvers in which fighter bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and home-built drones will take part.

The exercise “will unveil only parts of its capabilities to safeguard our country’s airspace,” Brigadier General Massoud Rouzkhosh was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

“The drill aims to counter any airspace incursion by the enemies,” he added.

The air force, comprised largely of U.S.-made jets obtained before the 1979 revolution, is particularly weak compared to Iran’s Gulf Arab rivals which have spent billions of dollars on Western fighter aircraft this year alone.

Iran unveiled a home-built drone this month that it said was capable of carrying bombs, in what appeared to be another copy of a U.S. reconnaissance drone that Iran captured five years ago.

reuters.com

Mosul residents and Iraqi intelligence officials describe fraying support for Islamic State and disarray in its ranks ahead of the Iraqi military’s campaign to drive the group from the city.

At recent Friday prayers in a Mosul mosque, the Islamic State-appointed preacher eschewed the traditional sermon extolling the group’s virtues. Instead, he implored those gathered to support the terror organization as it prepared for the offensive.

“Do you want to be humiliated again by the army, and do you not appreciate the dignity we gave you?” a resident who was there quoted the imam as saying. “Do you want to be treated badly by the army as they used to treat you before we liberated you?”

A Mosul resident said by phone, “All the people I talk to are ready to rebel against [Islamic State] with the first gunshot of the operation.”

Iraqi intelligence officials have attempted to encourage local rebellions against Islamic State in Mosul while instructing residents to remain in their homes and raise white flags once the Iraqi military and its allied Sunni militias push into the city.

An officer said one tactic which has worked to unsettle the militants has been the so-called “M Group.”

Secretly directed by Iraq’s military, the group marks the homes and offices of Islamic State fighters and administrators with the Arabic letter M—the first letter of moqawamma, which means resistance.

The officer said the tag isn’t necessarily for tactical reasons but appears to have frightened militants who he said have fled in droves in recent weeks. Local residents also said they have seen the militants fleeing.

One Mosul resident, reached by phone, said Islamic State’s visibility in the city has been reduced dramatically.

Foreign fighters who patrolled the streets or haunted internet cafes have largely disappeared, the resident said. Islamic State has also been beset in Mosul by internal rivalries, Iraqi military officials said.

Pickup trucks piled with furniture and other belongings of fleeing fighters have replaced similar trucks mounted with high-caliber machine guns, another resident said.

nasdaq.com

The U.S. military deployed to the east of Iraq’s Mosul has started shelling Daesh targets as part of an operation to retake the city, a Peshmerga commander said.

Peshmerga Commander Omer Huseyin told Anadolu Agency from Camp Bashiqa in northern Iraq that American howitzers, deployed some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away from Mosul city center, were hitting Daesh targets.

Huseyin said the U.S.-led coalition warplanes also hit areas where Daesh militants were positioned.

“The Daesh terrorists started burning tires to block the view of the warplanes after international coalition forces struck the area,” he added.

“Daesh terrorists also started burning the petroleum filled in their ditches, which they have dug around the city.”

But a Pentagon official who wanted to remain anonymous told Anadolu Agency that “a full scale offensive hasn’t started yet”. The official did not confirm if the operation had begun at all.

On the other hand, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) told Anadolu Agency that reports on social media and the Internet that Mosul operation began were “erroneous.”

The CENTCOM official who also wanted to remain anonymous said the liberation of Mosul was an “Iraqi military plan” and would start whenever Baghdad wanted to kick it off.

In mid-2014, the Daesh group captured the northern city of Mosul and overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq. The militant group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.

The Iraqi army and its allies are now gradually advancing on Mosul, which officials in Baghdad have vowed to “liberate” by year’s end.

albawaba.com