Mosul Massacre killed THOUSANDS of INNOCENT people

[Anthea]

Exactly HOW is the world intending to compensate the MILLION people whose lives, homes, businesses are about to be destroyed

?

[Anthea]

Peshmerga spokesman denies Shiite militia deployment near Mosul

The Kurdish Peshmerga spokesman on Wednesday denied that troops of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia had arrived near Mosul, saying the forces were from the Iraqi army.

Military sources had earlier told Rudaw that heavily armed Hashd troops arrived in the Kurdish town of Shekhan near Mosul late Tuesday night following the deployment of a larger Iraqi army force to the area earlier this week.

Halgurd Hikmat, media director for the Peshmerga, denied the earlier report.

"The two military units from the Iraqi military who have come to the Shekhan areas do not have anything to do with Hashd al-Shaabi,” Hikmat told Rudaw. “They are not Hashd. They are from the Iraqi army who belong to the central government in Baghdad."

Military sources told Rudaw the troops will be based in the strategic Mosul Dam, some 30 kilometers northwest of the ISIS-held city.

Sunni militias known as Hashd al-Watani have been based to the predominantly Sunni heartland of Mosul in northern Iraq.

On Monday, there was a harsh exchange of remarks by the Turkish president and the Iraqi prime minister over the anticipated Mosul operation which Baghdad wants to start without the Turkish military participation.

"We are not your enemy and we will liberate our land through the determination of our men and not by video calls," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi posted on his Twitter account, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks about Abadi and the looming Mosul offensive.

"The Iraqi prime minister is insulting me, first know your limits," Erdogan told a meeting of Islamic leaders in Istanbul in televised comments Monday warning Abadi.

"Iraq had certain requests from us regarding Bashiqa, and now they are telling us to leave. But the Turkish army has not lost so much standing as to take orders from you," Erdogan added referring to the Iraqi prime minister.

As the Turkish military took over Turkish media outlets in the failed coup of July 15, President Erdogan delivered a speech via Skype insisting that he was still in control of the country, which the Iraqi prime minister was apparently referring to in his rather sarcastic Facebook post.

Abadi has warned that the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq is likely to trigger a "regional war" and called for "immediate withdrawal" of the troops before the Mosul offensive starts.

Several Iraqi leaders have also said the participation of both Shiite and Sunni groups in the operation would likely result in ethnic conflict in the Nineveh Plains which is home to mixed religious and ethnic communities.

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/121020161

[Anthea]

Mosul is 'going to get messy,' analysts predict

As the battle to force Islamic State (ISIS) out of Iraq's second city, Mosul, gears up analysts predict "it's going to get messy," pointing out potential coordination problems between the diverse forces arrayed against the militants.

Iraq analyst Joel Wing anticipates difficulties of cooperation between Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Kurdish Peshmerga forces which "could be an issue."

"The way cities have been assaulted before is to surround them, try to let civilians escape, and then begin the assault," Wing told Rudaw English.

"In Mosul's case will the whole city be surrounded by the just the Iraqi forces or will the northeast be covered by the Peshmerga and the rest of the ISF?" he asked. "That could lead to some complications in the initial stages of the battle with coordination and communication."

Kyle Orton, a Middle East analyst and Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society is also worried that there will be no "effective coordination between the various actors heading into Mosul."

"The recent outbreak of tension between Turkey and Baghdad, and by extension Iran and its militias, has done nothing to help this," Orton told Rudaw English.

Presently the ISF are set to be the main ground force attacking the city with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militiamen playing, at most, supporting roles outside the city.

Turkey, however, is adamant that it will play some role in Mosul's liberation. The Turkish government has dismissed outright Iraq's demand that they withdraw the forces they have deployed to the Bashiqa training camp near Mosul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also insisted that, "After liberating Mosul from [ISIS], only Sunni Arabs, Turkmens and Sunni Kurds should stay there."

"The Turkish proxy, Hashd al-Watani, was at one stage supposed to be a 'hold' force after Mosul's liberation, now apparently it's not going to be involved at all," Orton noted.

The potential Turkish role in the operation is something Dylan O'Driscoll of the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) thinks could do serious harm to the delicate cooperative efforts of the other forces on the ground.

"Militarily at least, the planning has not been lacking and there are clear plans for the operation with regards to the role of the forces, and coordination and command," O'Driscoll told Rudaw English.

"The only unpredictable factor is Turkey and the level of their engagement, if any, will have a knock on effect on managing or controlling the role of the Hashd al-Shaabi, which could prove vital for the success of the operation and the post-battle stabilization," he added.

Militias in the Hashd al-Shaabi, particularly those backed by Iran, are vehemently opposed to Turkey's presence in Bashiqa and have even threatened to attack them.

One bizarre incident last December, when these tensions between Baghdad and Ankara began, saw the Kataeb Hezbollah militia claim on their television channel that they had been responsible for a rocket attack against Bashiqa which was attributed to ISIS. The claim was made in spite of the fact that, at that time, their forces were at least 100 kilometers to the south of that area.

Orton believes that any role played by the Hashd al-Shaabi in this operation could benefit ISIS.

"Keeping the Hashd al-Shaabi out of the Mosul offensive is very important because its dominant factions, the sectarian Iranian proxy militias, as well as its human rights abuses against civilians, provide ISIS a perfect foil for recovery," Orton reasons.

"At present it seems the Hashd will stay out, confined to areas west of the city. However, the Hashd spokesmen insist that their forces will be part of the operation, and the US has not pushed back very hard at this notion," he added.

Orton also believes that the presence of the Kurdish Peshmerga in the so-called disputed territories in Nineveh could alienate and embitter local Arabs; something he thinks may even benefit ISIS in the near future.

"The Peshmerga is resented by Arab inhabitants for their participation in carving out a maximalist interpretation of the Kurdistan Region's border right after Saddam fell," Orton said.

"So it's going to be messy. Mosul is another case where many actors are using the anti-ISIS fight to advance other agendas they've long sought, and in the process are setting up conditions that favour ISIS in the medium-term," Orton concluded.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/131020162

[Anthea]

ISIS may use chemical weapons in battle for Mosul

The Islamic State (ISIS) may use chemical weapons to protect Mosul, its de facto Iraqi capital, according to military officers and local officials.

Informed sources told ARA News that after seizing chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria, ISIS militants moved some of the weapons to Mosul, in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh Governorate.

Raafat al-Zarari, the head of the Nineveh Media Centre, said: “ISIS has brought several shipments of chemical weapons, particularly chlorine and mustard agents, to Mosul earlier this week.”

If the reports are accurate, they would impede the operation to retake Mosul, planned by the Kurdish Peshmerga, the Iraqi Army and the US-led coalition. The operation is expected to start within weeks.

“We may face a more complex situation in the battle for Mosul than expected,” a Kurdish Peshmerga official told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We are aware of ISIS moves in Mosul. The group has recently changed its main positions inside the city and installed new checkpoints in Mosul’s suburbs. The terrorist group is willing to put all of its strength in the upcoming battle for Mosul,” the Kurdish officer said. “Using chemical agents during the fight is highly possible, and we’ll make our preparations for such a scenario.”

Previous Chemical Attacks

ISIS has a long and lethal history of deploying chemical weapons against both military targets and civilian populations. That history was corroborated in a joint investigation conducted by the UN and a chemical weapons watchdog. ARA News has compiled a partial list of such attacks in Iraq and Syria.

On September 21, ISIS militants hit an Iraqi Army base with shells that reportedly contained mustard agent.

On September 18, ISIS launched a chemical attack on the villages of Um Hosh and Herbel in Afrin District northwest of Aleppo city. Five civilians and three members of the pro-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were injured.

Medical personnel at Afrin Hospital, where the injured were taken, told ARA News that their patients suffered from suffocation. “The victims have been clearly exposed to a chemical gas attack.”

On April 26, the SDF leadership confirmed that several shells containing chemicals had struck their positions in northeastern Syria. “ISIS terrorists pounded our fighters’ positions in the Taqa village near Shaddadi with mortar shells containing toxic chemicals. 15 fighters of the SDF have been injured and suffered suffocation by toxic gases,” the SDF Media Centre said. Medical personnel in Hasakah, confirmed that their patients had been exposed to a chemical agent.

On April 16, ISIS militants launched an offensive on positions held by the Kurdish Peshmerga, using rockets filled with chlorine gas. At least one fighter from the Kurdish Peshmerga forces was killed and four more wounded. Local activists confirmed that ISIS attacked the Peshmerga fighting in Makhmur District with chemical weapons that induced suffocation.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Peshmerga Ministry in an August statement, said that blood tests have indicated the use of chemical agents against Kurdish forces. At least 35 Peshmerga soldiers have been exposed to mustard agent. Some of the injured soldiers were taken abroad for treatment.

Speaking to ARA News, Rezan Heddo, a member of the Syrian Democratic Council, said: “ISIS and other radical Islamist groups […] are in possession of chemical weapons. They have used those weapons in several attacks on populated areas.”

http://aranews.net/2016/10/isis-may-use ... tle-mosul/

[Anthea]

US and allies prepare largest anti-ISIS operation in northern Iraq

The battle for Mosul is close and the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group will soon be removed from its major bastion in northern Iraq, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

“Nobody should be surprised by the notion that the fight for Mosul is close and that we have every intention working with our local partners on the ground and the coalition of achieving that goal as soon as possible,” a Pentagon spokesman said during a press briefing on Thursday about the operation that is expected to be launched this month.

Experts suggest the Mosul operation will at least take six to nine months, depending on the resistance from ISIS. There also remains the possibility that ISIS flees to Raqqa instead of resisting.

“It’s no surprise to people that we are going after Mosul, that the coalition is, the Iraqis are, the Iraqis are leading this effort,” the Pentagon spokesperson said. “We’re not going to reveal details about how that’s going to be carried out. The Iraqis to their credit aren’t going to do that as well.”

The Pentagon further stressed that the US wants to prevent sectarian rifts in Mosul–that broke out under the former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and led to the emergence of ISIS.

“Those [sectarian] tensions led to ISIL in the first place. And so I think the [defence] secretary [Carter] certainly feels confident that this is a conversation that he and Prime Minister Abadi have discussed at length,” the spokesman said.

Nevertheless, there are ongoing fears about the participation of the Shia Popular Mobilization Committees (PMU) in Mosul.

Qais al-Khazaali, the leader of pro-Iranian Asaab Ahl al-Haq militia said that the PMU would participate in the Mosul operation.

“The liberation of Mosul will be a revenge for the killing of imam Hussain,” he said on Wednesday.

Local sources suggest that 15,000 trained Sunni volunteers from Mosul –that took part in the battle for Qayyarah– will join the PMU in the Mosul battle.

http://aranews.net/2016/10/us-allies-pr ... -official/

[Anthea]

Battle for Mosul: UN prepares for aftermath 'chaos'

A planned military offensive to reclaim Mosul from so-called Islamic State (ISIS) could see up to a MILLION Iraqis flee their homes. The UN's refugee agency has told the BBC how it and its partners are gearing up to deal with the expected humanitarian crisis by building camps to house those in need.

The much-delayed operation to drive ISis from Iraq's second-largest city is expected to begin this month, more than two years after the jihadists over-ran Mosul and proclaimed its caliphate.

In preparation, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and its partners are stepping up contingency plans, informed by a number of lessons learned from previous offensives, such as Falluja, says Bruno Geddo, a UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Iraq.

For example, the Iraqi army has been encouraging the residents of Mosul to stay in their homes when possible instead of taking to the open roads, where they could be vulnerable to attack.

"The Islamic State [ISIS] know where the routes out of the city are and they will kill people escaping," Mr Geddo says.

"There is only a narrow route which is safe to travel through. If too many people try to use them there will be bottlenecks, which are always dangerous. They are easy to attack."

Mr Geddo hopes the Iraqi army will be successful in keeping people in their homes, but says such a plan will be difficult to enforce. For this reason, the UNHCR and its partners are preparing for the worst.

"If [the situation in the city] is arranged in a proper way - everything will be controlled by the Iraqi army - people will not be allowed to flee Mosul," he says.

"If the outflow is uncontrolled there will be chaos and desperation."

'A million people displaced'

An estimated 3.3 million people - equivalent to almost 10% of the population of Iraq - have been uprooted by fighting since the start of 2014. Those currently fleeing Mosul and its surrounding areas join about half-a-million people who fled the city in June 2014.

There are no firm figures on how many people remain in Mosul, but there were more than two million when IS took the city more than two years ago.

The population could now be "anywhere between 1.2 and 1.5m people".

120,000 spaces in UN camps

300,000 spaces with UN partners

280,000 currently uncatered for

As a result, the UN believes up to one million people could be displaced by the forthcoming military action, and some 700,000 of those, they believe, will need shelter.

It warns it could be one of the largest man-made displacement crises of recent times.

THE LARGEST SLAUGHTER

With current funding levels, the UNHCR says it is able to provide accommodation for 20,000 families - or 120,000 people.

Other groups working alongside the agency estimate they can help a further 50,000 families.

Emergency camps

"We will have five new permanent camps up by the end of October and hope to provide 20 more emergency camps closer to the theatre of conflict," says Mr Geddo.

Due to protection concerns, the locations of these emergency camps cannot currently be revealed.

An "emergency shelter kit" is given to families when tents are not available in camps
Each pack costs between $79 and $87 (£65-£70)
The UN currently has 50,000 such kits, with 5,000 arriving in Iraq each week from 18 October. Some 30,000 more will be provided by UN partners from November.

The emergency camps will need to be closer to the city to look after civilians as soon as they escape and will therefore suffer from "a substantial risk" of "mortar or shell attacks", Mr Geddo warns.

So far, he says, the UN has identified locations for four of the emergency camps, but explains the challenge is finding safe places with the right terrain for shelter as well as a water supply.

In the past, there have also been issues with private landowners unwilling to lease land to the UN.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37643228

[Anthea]

An "emergency shelter kit" is given to families when tents are not available in camps
Each pack costs between $79 and $87 (£65-£70)
The UN currently has 50,000 such kits, with 5,000 arriving in Iraq each week from 18 October
Some 30,000 more will be provided by UN partners from November.

For 2 years, nobody has bothered to prevent supplies and weapons reaching ISIS in Mosul

Now the unfortunate inhabitants of Mosul are about to lose there homes, businesses and entire way of life, many of them will become

LIBERATED CORPSES

As compensation the world is offering them a tent or £70

I can imagine how many people will be rushing to leave everyone they know and everything they posses, so that they can receive £70 blood money

[Anthea]

'Last battle against ISIS in Iraq: forces mass for Mosul assault

Iraqi and Kurdish forces are finalising plans to attack the last urban stronghold of Islamic State in Iraq, the northern city of Mosul, which after a month-long buildup is now largely surrounded by a 60,000-strong force.

The assault could begin as early as this weekend and is the most critical challenge yet to Isis’s two-year-old “caliphate”, which had shredded state authority in the region’s heartland, led to a mass exodus of refugees, attempted a genocide of minorities and led to grave doubts over Iraq’s viability.

As an offensive to take back Mosul from Isis is set to begin, photojournalist Souvid Datta visits the front line, spending time with Yazidi female fighters, refugees at the Debaga camp, and communities trying to get on with life

Iraqi forces, which have driven hundreds of miles for what Baghdad has hailed as a last battle against the terror group, moved into their final positions on Friday, joining Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers ahead of an expected advance from the south. Also on the ground are US, British and French special forces, who have been advising Peshmerga troops. They will play a prominent role in calling in airstrikes against Isis targets inside the city.

Isis is thought to have around 6,000 fighters ready to defend Mosul, hidden among an estimated civilian population of 600,000, most of whom are expected to flee as the battle intensifies.

The new wave of refugees is likely to be far more difficult to manage than the war itself, with authorities and aid agencies desperately trying to finalise plans ahead of the attack. Save the Children, one of numerous NGOs near Mosul, said some refugees had died on an arduous trip to a holding camp south of the city.

Aram Shakaram, Save the Children’s deputy director in Iraq, said: “Children are arriving from Hawija on the verge of death. Food in the area is running out and they are hungry, thirsty and absolutely exhausted, having walked barefoot through mountains full of landmines and Isis patrols.

“Our team heard of a woman and her 17-year-old nephew who collapsed and died just a few kilometres away from help.”

Kurdish forces are expecting stiff resistance from the terror group, which has already lost the cities of Tikrit, Ramadi, Sinjar and Fallujah and a vast area of land close to Erbil.

Despite more than a year of US-led airstrikes, mortars continue to rain down on Kurdish forces. Isis is also believed to have placed thousands of improvised explosives in villages on the road to Mosul. The mines and improvised bombs are likely to make the going slow, and and war planners are expecting the campaign to last at least one month.

Isis has also used mustard gas against Kurdish forces – up to 19 times in the past two years. The militants thought responsible for the group’s chemical weapons programme are believed to have all been captured, or killed, but a risk remains of further attacks.

The UN estimates that as many as 700,000 of Mosul’s residents will be in desperate need as the attack gets under way. At least another 600,000 residents and residents of the Nineveh plains are already receiving aid after fleeing the city after the ISIS invasion.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... ul-assault

[Anthea]

After ISIS, internal ethnic conflicts will increase

After ISIS is militarily defeated in Mosul, it will become clear that the radical group also worked as a force that kept the many guns in the region pointed in the same direction, according to Middle East specialist Hayder al-Khoei, an Iraqi working for the European Council on Foreign Relations think-tank in London.

“As soon as ISIS is defeated, we are not just talking Sunni-Shiite tensions, but there are Sunni-Sunni, Shiite-Shiite and Kurdish-Kurdish tensions as well,” he warned during a visit to the Kurdistan capital of Erbil.

“And the Kurds that have been very honest and candid that they are not going to retreat from territory… this means that even if you can calm down the tension between Shiites and Sunnis, you will have Arab-Kurdish tensions that are going to be extremely difficult to contain.”

At the same time, geopolitics play an even more important role in Mosul than in other areas of Iraq, he pointed out, with the competition between Turkey and Iran playing out in the city.

“If the Turks insist on having their forces and those they train and back involved in Mosul, it will give more excuse domestically in Iran to those groups that say ‘we also have to be involved in Mosul,’” he said, indicating that Shiite militias will be triggered by Turkish involvement to move into the city.

In the military arrangements for the battle for Mosul, that is expected to start shortly, Iraqi Shiite militias that are backed by Iran have now been ordered to stay out of town, for fear of retaliation against the majority Sunnis population, as in the earlier liberated cities of Tikrit and Fallujah.

Turkey is playing a dangerous card, al-Khoei indicated. “If Iran sees Turkey’s aggressive military presence in Mosul, it will not take it quietly. It is also going to aggressively deal with it.”

At the same time, al-Khoei, who until recently was an associate fellow at the Chatham House think-tank in London, says that “thankfully”, the geopolitical players Iran and the United States are “de-conflicting, call it what you want: understanding, cooperating.”

“In the military sense they are avoiding conflict. They are working with the same people, are sometimes in the same building in Baghdad, in different rooms or on different floors. No Iraqi politician will say this on the record, but sometimes the pro-Iran commanders are in the same room as the Americans looking at the same screens, reading the same intelligence.”

The grandson of a grand ayatollah who was meant to lead the Iraqi Shiites after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 but was killed soon afterwards, al-Khoei points out that even with this understanding between Iran and the US, many threats remain.

He feels that not enough attention is being paid to the post-military reconciliation phase, “because especially the bigger powers want quick military victories, as something they can point to and say: I liberated the city...”

Not all reactions are predictable, he said, pointing to the way Sunnis in towns that were liberated from ISIS now look at politics. “There has been a fundamental shift in the way Sunni Arabs perceive Baghdad. Most of the blame now is put on Sunni political leaders. This is coming from Sunni Arab tribal leaders, and I've talked to Moslawis and Anbaris in IDP camps. I expected to hear ‘Maliki, Maliki, Shiite, Shiite,’ but they were blaming their own political leaders or the Iraqi Sunni dissidents who live outside Iraq and have a very sectarian discourse.”

Civilians in towns occupied by ISIS suffered the most and, because of this, al-Khoei is sure they will make sure this cannot happen again. Lots of people welcomed the jihadists in the beginning, “they even called it the tribal revolution. Now it will be more difficult to repeat that. People have changed.”

“I am confident that Moslawis will make sure that ISIS, or any jihadist group, is not a viable alternative to Baghdad. Sunnis lost their homes, their cities, their families, because of a political discourse. That is what led, on both sides, to escalation... They’re going to be much more resilient; they have problems with Baghdad, yes, trust issues, yes, but people are going to try much harder so they don't go through this again.”

Yet he acknowledges that many of the radical Sunnis from the villages, who played an important role in the jihadist groups in Mosul even before ISIS took over, will go underground. “A lot of them may just shave their beards and wear some nice suits and ties. Many of them were part of this revolutionary tribal constellation. Their discourse will not change, and the grievances remain the same: ‘we lost power and we want it back.’”

“An interesting question: when will Mosul really be liberated? A lot of people fear that even if ISIS is defeated, the same allies, networks and anti-government violence and terrorism are going to remain, but will simply change face. It will have a more secular, nationalist face. That makes matters even more complicated for everyone.”

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/151020166

[Anthea]

Anti-ISIS group in Mosul reportedly killed leader

An anti-Islamic State (ISIS) group inside Mosul city has reportedly staged an attack on the militant group, killing a leader and some militants, one source told Rudaw. Another said that ISIS is fabricating such uprisings in order to flesh out dissenters.

“The Kataeb al-Awliyaa of Mosul, using medium weapons has attacked Rifaq neighborhood on Saturday and they killed Abu Dawd Misri, who was an ISIS security official east of Mosul,” a source told Rudaw.

“Misri had arrested many youth in Mosul over recent days,” the source added.

According to the source, the Kataeb al-Awliyaa attacked two ISIS checkpoints – the Shalalat checkpoint in the Qahira area inside Mosul where they killed three militants, and the Bashik checkpoint in the Tahrir area east of Mosul.

A second source inside the city, however, said ISIS has created fake uprisings in order to expose residents who oppose the group.

Reuters reported this week that ISIS had foiled a planned revolt in the city and executed 58 alleged plotters.

ISIS is intensifying its presence and surveillance on the streets in order to show their strength and deter other revolt attempts. They have closed main bridges and roads in order to exert control over the population and limit movement around the city of both plotters and those wanting to flee in advance of the military offensive.

ISIS has deployed its militants on the streets and told residents they are not planning to withdraw but strengthen their positions through tunneling, putting up concrete barriers, constructing fortifications out of mounds of earth, and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

A citizen from Mosul, speaking to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, said that “ISIS two days ago started booby-trapping the streets in the left side of Mosul. And 3,500 of its militants are doing intensive surveillance inside Mosul.”

Information Rudaw obtained from one source indicates that ISIS has reinforced its forces in the city, bringing in 2,250 fighters from Diyala, Anbar and Tikrit. They have also stationed foreign fighters in locations bordering the city: Hamdaniya, Tel Kaif, Bartella, and Tel Afar.

Leaders are evacuating their families. The Mosul Eye, a blogger in the city, told Rudaw that more than 32 leaders left with their families but said they would return themselves.

He added that the militants appear to have given up on defending the city. “They don’t seem to be so afraid,” he said. “It seems that they don’t expect a battle in Mosul.”

He believes that they will abandon Mosul for Raqqa but will seek to destroy the city and kill as many as they can. “The only way to protect the people is to get the forces inside Mosul as soon as possible. They can take over the city. ISIL is ready to lose the battle.”

Iraqi military commanders are asking the people of Mosul to stay at home and do not leave when the operation is launched. People are concerned about the availability of food and basic needs, fearing that prices of goods in the markets may double during the military offensive.

According to information coming from Mosul, ISIS appointed new official, Muhseen Abdulkarim Oghlu, as assistant to the Wali of Mosul, the so-called caliphate’s governor.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/151020165

[Anthea]

Ahead of offensive, Iraqi planes drop leaflets over Mosul

Iraqi aircraft dropped thousands of leaflets on Sunday over Mosul, advising residents to stay away from ISIS shelters as an offensive to evict the militants from their Iraqi stronghold appeared imminent.

The Iraqi army and its allied militia, Peshmerga forces and the US-led coalition are poised for the offensive.

The leaflets dropped over Mosul advise residents “to avoid ISIS shelters, try to stay indoors and shut doors and windows.”

The message also highlights a message from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi which reads: “The Mosul liberation operation is close and it is time to clean Iraq of Daesh (ISIS).”

The pamphlets also provide a hotline where people can call to get information to “locate the whereabouts” of ISIS activities.

Iraqi military officials have said that the purpose of the leaflets is to inform people about the preparations for the offensive before the assault kicks off.

Mosul fell to ISIS in early June 2014, after the rapid capitulation by the Iraqi military, whose members reportedly abandoned their posts as the jihadists advanced.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/161020162

[Anthea]

ISIS has had more than 2 years to plan

2 years to secure their bases in Mosul

2 years in which to plant booby-traps

The inhabitants of Mosul have had more than 2 years of relative peace and freedom from Shia atrocities - their greatest fear is being killed by the coalition liberators

This is basically a Sunni-Shia war that is being made far worse by the intervention of the international community

Sadly, the international community have supported and even funded ISIS

The original food and weaponry ISIS had 2 years ago has long since been used up

Food - supplies - weapons - fighters, have all been allowed into Mosul during the past 2 years

After allowing ISIS to settle in for 2 years NOW the coalition has decided to get rid of them

The world has gone mad

ISIS should never have received international support

US and UK should not be selling arms to Saudi Arabia, as we have always known that ISIS follow Saudi's strict Sharia Law, on which most of ISIS's atrocities are based

[Anthea]

Mosul must be liberated by Iraqis only, say Nineveh tribal leaders

Nineveh tribal leaders reject the participation of foreign, regional, and Shiite militias in the military offensive to liberate Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, amid concerns about the future of their region.

The people of Nineveh, both those still living under ISIS and those who have been displaced, “are concerned and fear for what will happen after ISIS. The possibility of personal revenge makes people afraid,” Sheikh A’hd al-Khalidi from Mosul told Rudaw on Sunday.

Al-Khalidi was in Erbil for the united council of Iraqi tribes’ conference, held to support the operation to retake Mosul from ISIS.

There is a fear among many that Sunni tribes who lived under ISIS rule for two and a half years will be accused of supporting ISIS and blamed for the terrorist group’s crimes.

Sheikh Mahmoud al-Jabouri, another tribal leader from Nineveh, agreed that they are afraid of tribal revenge after liberation. He said that the goal of the conference was to ensure revenge attacks against civilians did not occur post-ISIS, as was declared in the tribes’ conference statement.

“The statement of the conference was very good that it will not allow anyone to commit violations against civilians.”

Fear of sectarian violence is why the Sunni tribal leaders oppose involvement of the Shiite militia Hashd al-Shaabi in the offensive.

“Personally I believe that if the Hashd al-Shaabi were a professional force and not sectarian and their goal was to protect Mosul, I would not mind if they entered Nineveh,” Sheikh Mahmoud al-Jabouri told Rudaw.

But the Shiite militia’s record in previous offenses, such as Fallujah in Anbar province where the militias were accused of abusing the Sunni population, leave many in Nineveh nervous of what may happen during the liberation of Mosul.

“We are, as tribal sheikhs, afraid of the Hashd intervention that has caused destruction in Saladin, and as happened in other places such in Baiji and Anbar,” Sheikh Khalid al-Jabouri another tribal leader from Nineveh told Rudaw.

Mosul must be liberated by Iraqis and whatever forces are involved in the military operation, both Iraqi and international, they must coordinate with the governments in Baghdad and Erbil, the tribal leaders insisted.

“We refuse any kind of foreign troops’ presence in Iraq. Iraqi men, tribe members and the Iraqi army will liberate Mosul. This will happen at the hand of Iraqis,” said al-Khalidi.

“Regarding the Turkish troops and other foreign troops, it is interference in Iraqi affairs. Whether they are from Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia or Qatar – cooperation should be only with the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi forces,” said Sheikh Mahmoud al-Jabouri.

Sheikh Khalid al-Jabouri believes that Iranian interference must be denounced in the say way Baghdad has rejected Turkey’s insistence it will participate in the offensive.

“We do not accept any intervention of any country on Iraqi territory, whether Turkey or others,” he said. “At the time that Turkish interference should be denounced, the Iranian interference should be denounced as well.”

“Qasem Soleimani is leading the battles on behalf of Iraqi leadership, this is not acceptable,” he added, referring to the head of Iran’s elite Quds force.

“The support Turkey has provided for Mosul is in training the Iraqi army, Nineveh tribe members and Peshmerga. We should thank Turkey for that, but we do not let any country to intervene in Mosul,” said Sheikh Khalid al-Jabouri.

The same concerns exist when discussing post-liberation governance of the province, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Jabouri believes. He stressed that qualified, neutral persons should govern the region.

“We have to avoid internal political disputes. Now, liberating the province is the most important thing. Then we should find independent people to run Mosul professionally, people who represent the citizens of Mosul, not a political party or group. The city should be run by qualified people from Mosul who did not collaborate with ISIS in any way.”

The tribal leaders of Nineveh called on the international community and regional countries to provide support to rebuild their region post-ISIS.

“We ask the international community organizations, regional and Arab countries for support to rebuild Mosul as ISIS destroyed its infrastructure, its people, and heritage,” said Sheikh Khalid al-Jabouri.

“The case of Mosul should be dealt with internationally after liberation to help its people by rebuilding Mosul.”

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/161020164

[Anthea]

Battle to retake Mosul from IS begins

A military operation to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State (IS) has begun, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says.

An offensive to retake the city, Iraq's second largest, has been planned for months.

Mosul has been under IS control since June 2014.

The UN has warned that the humanitarian impact could be "enormous", and possibly affect up to 1.2 million people living in and around the city.

[Piling]

To follow the updates of operations, twitter account of Peshmerga command :

https://twitter.com/GCPFKurdistan