Iraqi army forces on the road to Mosul. BBC
ishtartv.com - BBC
18
October 2016
Iraq's
army is besieging the Christian town of Qaraqosh, officials say, as an
offensive to retake the city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State continues.
Thousands
of Christians fled Qaraqosh, 32km (20 miles) south-east of Mosul, when
jihadists seized it two years ago.
An
Iraqi general said earlier reports the town had been retaken were untrue, with
IS snipers slowing progress.
The
Iraqi army and federal police are also besieging nearby al-Shura as they
advance towards the south of Mosul.
The
attack will resume on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile,
the International Committee of the Red Cross appealed to all sides in the
battle to show their "humanity".
Its
director of operations for the Middle East, Robert Mardini, told the BBC that
meant not targeting civilians, avoiding the use of heavy weapons in densely
populated areas, and giving safe passage to those who wanted to leave.
"The
world is watching," Mr Mardini warned.
An
International Organization for Migration representative said it feared IS militants
would use the estimated 1.5 million civilians in Mosul as human shields, or
even deploy chemical weapons.
There
are also concerns that Shia Muslim paramilitary forces involved in the
offensive may seek revenge on Mosul's predominantly Sunni Arab population.
Aid
agencies are also scrambling to prepare emergency shelters for the hundreds of
thousands of people expected to try to flee Mosul as the fighting approaches.
A
coalition of about 30,000 Iraqi security personnel, Kurdish fighters, Sunni
Arab tribesmen, and Shia paramilitary forces launched the offensive on Mosul
early on Monday with the support of US-led coalition air strikes and special
forces.
By
nightfall they were "ahead of schedule", a Pentagon spokesman said.
The
BBC's Jonathan Beale, who is embedded with Iraqi army units moving north from
the Qayyarah airbase towards Hamam al-Alil, reported on Tuesday morning that
commanders were planning to push forwards another 4km (2.5 miles).
They
recaptured 10 villages on the first day of the operation, but had another 70 to
retake before reaching the city's outskirts, our correspondent added.
Coalition
warplanes also carried out air strikes in Hamam al-Alil, destroying a water
plant and health centre where IS militants had been based, an Iraqi military
source said.
A
Kurdish commander meanwhile said his forces were holding their positions after
capturing a number of villages east of Mosul on Monday and seizing some 200 sq
km (80 sq miles) of territory.
"The
Iraqi army will now advance past our arenas of control," Col Khathar
Sheikhan told the Associated Press news agency. "We have achieved our
objectives."
Sunni
tribal fighters also reported that an Iraqi soldier and three militants had
been killed in an IS attack on the village of al-Nasir, near Qayyarah,
involving a suicide car bombing.
IS
said it had carried out 10 suicide attacks against pro-government forces
advancing on Mosul on Monday. Kurdish officials said at least five of their
fighters were killed in one incident.
The
Mosul offensive is expected to take weeks, if not months, with the estimated
3,000 to 5,000 militants left in the city reportedly preparing by digging
tunnels, rigging bridges with explosives, laying booby-traps and recruiting
children as spies.
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