Friday 19 / April / 2024
Sheikh Amir (Iraq): A deep tunnel, booby trapped with an improvised explosive device, burrows under houses at the entrance to the village. Nearby, an anti-personnel mine lies half buried in a dirt road.
Residents began returning on Wednesday to the village of Sheikh Amir on the road to Mosul, recaptured overnight by advancing Kurdish fighters in the early days of the biggest advance that has been launched against IS militant group.
They found a village rigged with explosives and dug in with elaborate underground defences, abandoned by the hardliners who have retreated closer to Mosul, 30km (19 miles) to the west.
Three days into the assault began on Mosul, US-backed government and Kurdish forces are steadily recovering outlying territory before the big push into the city itself, expected to be the biggest battle in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Much of Sheikh Amir had been torn down, including the house of Abbas Ahmad Hussein, a 36-year-old resident who fled the village when militants of IS captured it in 2014.
Abbas returned on Wednesday to survey the damage with a small truck to take out any salvageable items, but found nothing left to save amid the wreckage.
"I spent all my money to build this house and Daesh (IS) destroyed it," he said. "My brother, my uncle and my cousins live around here and they destroyed all their houses too. They destroyed all the houses belonging to us."
The village had a mixed population before IS arrived.
Mosul, the last major stronghold of IS fighters in Iraq, is five times the size of any other city the militant group has held. Recapturing it would deal a decisive blow to IS.
But the booby trapped bunkers dug underneath this village, as well as the sectarian invective sprayed on its walls, show how difficult the advance may be. Tens of thousands of pro-government troops will face a tenacious enemy that has had years to prepare and a history of using civilians as human shields. A population of some 1.5 million will be in harm's way.
This area of northern Iraq is among the most diverse parts of the country, with many ethnic and religious groups fearful of revenge attacks and worried about the balance of power once IS fighters are chased away.
In an announcement that could alarm some civilians in the path of the fighting, a powerful paramilitary force said it would support the Iraqi army's offensive by helping secure a town located on one of the main routes out of Mosul.
The Popular Mobilization Force (PMF), a coalition of mostly militias, said late on Tuesday it would back government forces advancing towards Tal Afar, about 55km west of Mosul.
The PMF includes thousands of battle-hardened fighters with powerful political allies in Baghdad. They have been accused of carrying out killings and kidnappings in other areas freed from IS, although they deny such abuse is pervasive.
Iraqi officials want to keep them off the main battlefields in Mosul to avoid alarming residents.
Taking Tal Afar would in effect cut off the escape route for militants wanting to head into neighbouring Syria and would please the Iran-backed army of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, which accuses the US-led anti-IS coalition of planning to allow the militants such a safe passage.
But it could also hamper the escape of civilians from Mosul, who must be persuaded that it is safe to leave. Washington is keen to limit the militias' role.
The US-led military coalition providing air and ground support for the Mosul offensive said it would not assist PMF units.
"As far as the PMF, the coalition only supports those elements that are under the direct command and control of the Iraqi security forces -- and the PMF are not," said Major General Gary Volesky, the commander of US-led coalition ground forces in the fight against IS.
"As far as what the PMF's role is, again, that is up to the government of Iraq and we (advise) them on our recommendations," Volesky said. "But at the end of the day, that is the government of Iraq's decision."
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday it would be a difficult fight but IS "will be defeated in Mosul". He hopes to bolster his legacy by seizing back as much territory as he can from IS before he leaves office in January.
A total of 20 villages were taken from the militants east, south and southeast of Mosul by early Tuesday, according to statements from the two forces.
IS said on Monday its fighters had targeted the attacking forces with 10 suicide bombs and that their foes had surrounded five villages but not taken them. None of the reports could be independently verified.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters on Tuesday that it was known that civilians in Mosul were being used as human shields.
Iraqi government forces are mostly fighting south of Mosul and were trying on Wednesday to clear the region of Shora, 40km (25 miles) south of the city, a military statement said. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were deployed on the eastern and northern frontlines, 20 to 25 km from the city.
"The PMF will be backing the security forces on the western front (..) along two axes. The first is Tal Afar and the second is to support the forces going into the centre of Mosul," a statement on the PMF website said.
Iraqi officials and residents of Mosul say IS is preventing people from leaving the city but civilians are fleeing from outlying districts and villages.
The United Nations says that in a worst case scenario 1 million people could be displaced by the Mosul campaign, requiring emergency housing and food. It has warned that some 100,000 people may arrive in Syria from the Mosul area.
Still, most of the people from the area say they are waiting only for the fighting to end so that they can come home.
