Mosul offensive (2016)

2016 Mosul offensive
Part of the Iraqi Civil War (2014-present),
the American-led intervention in Iraq (2014-present),
and the War on Terror
Date24 March 2016 – present
(1 month, 1 week and 6 days)
LocationSouthwest Erbil Governorate and Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
Result

Ongoing

  • The ISF and Peshmerga recaptured 16 villages by April 2016
Belligerents

 Iraq
Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan
CJTF–OIR:

  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
Commanders and leaders

Haidar al-Abadi (Prime Minister of Iraq)
Iraq Major Gen. Najim al-Jubouri (ISF commander of Nineveh Operations)
CJTF–OIR:

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
(Leader)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Suleiman al-Naser (Military Chief)[1]

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Mohammad Ahmad Sha’yeb † (ISIL Governor of the Nineveh Province)[2]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Jassim Salim al-Matyouti † (Replacement Nineveh Province Governor)[3]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Thaher Mohammed Salman al-Sabawi † (Top commander in the Nineveh Province)[3]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Salam Abd Shabib al-Jbouri † (Top ISIL commander in Mosul)[4]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Imad Khalid Afar † (Senior ISIL adviser)[5]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Wahid as-Sabaawi † (oil minister)[3]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Zaineb † (ISIL commander in Qayyarah)[6]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Ahmed Ghanem al-Hadidi † (Chief of "Cubs of the Caliphate" in Mosul)[3]
Units involved

Iraq:

Iraqi Kurdistan:

United States:

United Kingdom:

Military of ISIL

Strength

ISF: 20,000–25,000 soldiers[7]
Peshmerga: 10,000 soldiers[8]

US: 200 Marines (tactical support only)[9]		 10,000 militants (in Mosul city)[10]
Casualties and losses

36 Iraqi soldiers killed[11][12][13][14]
3 Peshmerga killed
1 US Navy Seal killed

91 Iraqi soldiers wounded[12][13][14][15]		 510+ militants killed[5][9][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
45 deserted
33 civilians executed[24][25]
1 Kurdish soldier beheaded (hostage from 2015)[26]

The Mosul offensive (2016), also called Operation Conquest or Operation Fatah, refers to an ongoing offensive which started in the Iraqi province of Nineveh, against ISIL's positions in Mosul and the surrounding region. The offensive is a joint effort by the Iraqi government forces with allied militias, Iraqi Kurdistan, limited US ground forces, and US and allied air support.[27][28][29][30] It is part of the military intervention against ISIL, with the aim of pushing ISIL out of the second-largest city of Iraq, Mosul, as well as the rest of the Nineveh Governorate.[31] The operation follows the Mosul offensive in 2015, which successfully recaptured parts of the region northwest Mosul, but stopped short of breaching the city itself, for various reasons. The Fall of Mosul to ISIL occurred between 4 and 10 June 2014.

Background

Since the city of Mosul fell to ISIL forces on 10 June 2014, the United States and the Iraqi Government were planning to retake the city. Initially, the original plan called for an assault on Mosul in July or August 2015.[32] From late January through early February 2015, the Peshmerga launched an offensive on northwest Mosul with 5,000 soldiers, cutting ISIL supply lines to Tel Afar, and coming within 6 miles of the city center, from Mosul's northwestern outskirts. In May 2015, the Fall of Ramadi to ISIL delayed the planned offensive to retake Mosul to 2016. In late November 2015, the Iraqi Army fully encircled Ramadi and launched another offensive to retake the city, fully recapturing Ramadi and the neighboring districts in February 2016. In late February 2016, 4,000 Iraqi soldiers redeployed to the Makhmour area in the southwestern Erbil Province, in preparation for an upcoming offensive on Mosul.

The offensive

The offensive began on 24 March 2016, near the Makhmur area of the Nineveh Province. Thousands of Iraqi troops were deployed there in recent weeks. They were setting up bases alongside Kurdish and US forces.[31] While advancing westwards towards the oil town of Qayyarah, Iraqi troops were reported to have recaptured several villages from ISIL, among them Al-Nasr, Garmandi, Kudila and Khurburdan.[31] However it was later revealed that ISIL was still occupying Al-Nasr and the government forces were trying to capture it.[33]

Around 4,000 soldiers, from two brigades of the U.S.-trained 15th Division of the Iraqi army, including Sunni tribal fighters (considered by Peshmerga commanders to be crucial to hold the traditionally Sunni areas), met stiff resistance. It was reported that they were attacked by suicide bombers as well as with mortars and machine guns, which stopped the advance for the time being. Warplanes of the U.S. led coalition against ISIL launched multiple airstrikes on at least two locations. 200 U.S. Marines had set up a small outpost called Firebase Bell in the last few weeks. From there they provided artillery and targeting support for Iraqi forces. The presence of U.S. Marines became known, after one of them was recently killed in an ISIL rocket attack. Kurdish Peshmerga forces didn't take active part in the fight yet, they only held the front line at what they considered as the border of their territory.[34] It was announced on 27 March that Abu Furqan al-Misry, an ISIL commander and executioner who was a notorious figure in the region, had been killed.[35]

During the offensive, Iraqi soldiers temporarily fled from the village of Nasr after ISIL started to shell the village, while Kurdish Peshmerga forces held their positions according the Kurdish media groups.[36] There were reports of 25 ISIL fighters killed as the Iraqi army was shelling ISIL headquarters in Qayyarah.[16]

By the first days of April 2016, thousands of Mosul residents began to flee the area, as Iraqi forces inched closer towards the city.[37] ISIL has reportedly started using the chemistry lab of the Mosul University for making bombs.[38]

The Joint Task Force carried out airstrikes against ISIL near Qayyarah on 1 April. The airstrikes destroyed a weapon storage facility, a tactical vehicle and two mortar firing positions.[39] A source in Nineveh Liberation Operations Command in a statement to IraqiNews.com published on 2 April announced that 40 ISIL militants had been killed by Iraqi forces in different regions south of Mosul. The slain militants included 6 suicide bombers and one senior leader.[17]

The ISIL-occupied Turkish Consulate was destroyed by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition after Turkey had given its approval for targeting the consulate.[40] Later on the same day, Iraqi Army managed to kill 30 terrorists and detonate a booby-trapped vehicle in the village of al-Nasr located in Makhmur District south of Mosul.[18]

On 5 April, Coalition aircraft bombed a training headquarters belonging to ISIL near the Grand Mosque in the city of Mosul resulting in the killing of 50 fighters belonging to ISIL, as well as destroying their headquarters completely.[19]

On 6 April, Iraqi security forces from the army’s 15th brigade, Peshmerga, and tribal fighters resumed military operations, after receiving information about the presence of a large number of booby-trapped vehicles and suicide bombers belonging to ISIS in al-Nasr village south of Mosul, killing 70 ISIS militants and destroying seven car bombs.[20]

The Iraqi government released a footage on 7 April that showed an airstrike conducted by the coalition forces in Mosul which destroyed a bridge that was being used to ferry supplies by ISIL. In addition, the government claimed that a number of militants had been killed in the airstrikes as well with many other roads and bridges used as supply lines by ISIL being cut-off.[21] On the same day, US-led coalition aircraft carried out an air strike targeted a laboratory of chlorine-filled rockets, chlorine gas and other toxic materials belonging to ISIS in al-Saawiya village in Qayyara District, killing 30 ISIS fighters who were inside the laboratory and destroying the laboratory completely.[41]

On 9 April, at least 30 ISIL militants were killed by Coalition airstrikes in Mosul. Two airstrikes struck an ISIL defensive fence in Al-Haj, south of Mosul, killing over 20 militants, pulverized the base. 10 ISIL militants were also killed when Coalition jets pounded another site in the Al-Mahanna district, to the south of Mosul.[42] British aircraft carried out airstrikes near Mosul and Qayyarah on 12 April, taking out an ISIL rocket launching team near Mosul and a mortar team near Qayyarah.[43] On 16 April, a Coalition airstrike killed Imad Khalid Afar, a senior ISIL commander and adviser, near the Salam Hospital.[5]

On 18 April, the US and Peshmerga forces carried out a raid in Hamam Alil, to the south of Mosul, killing 3 ISIL militants. One of them was Salam Abd Shabib al-Jbouri, the top ISIL commander in Mosul.[4] On the same day, the Peshmerga launched an offensive on Khorsabad, to the northeast of Mosul, capturing the villages of Nawara and Barima, as well as the Khorsabad Intersection, to the north of Khorsabad.[44] By 19 April, Peshmerga forces entered Khorsabad.[45]

On 27 April, the Iraqi Army captured Mahana, a village in the Makhmour area located southeast of Qayyarah.[46] The clashes and the aerial bombardments at Mahana resulted in the deaths of 200 ISIL militants.[22] On the same day Iraqi Army shelled a gathering belonging to ISIL in Khayata village, in the Qayyara district, killing 35 ISIL militants.[47] On 29 April, the Iraqi Army repelled an ISIL counterattack on the villages of Mahana and Khardan, killing 91 ISIL militants. An Australian ISIL recruiter Neil Prakash, also known by his alias Abu Khaled al-Cambodi was killed in a US airstrike in Mosul on the same day.[23][48]

On 2 May, nine ISIS militants were killed by a shelling conducted by the Iraqi army 15th brigade on ISIS gathering in Shayla village in Makhmur District south of Mosul.[49]

On 3 May, at 7:30am local time, 125 ISIS militants with more than 20 vehicles attacked a Peshmerga position, near the town of Tel Skuf, 28-30km North of Mosul, where a dozen U.S. troops acting as advisors were visiting. American and Peshmerga forces fought back but the militants broke into the position using 3 truck bombs followed by bulldozers which cleared the wreckage away, the Peshmerga and U.S. forces called for a QRF which responded and joined the battle, helping the advisors and other personnel to withdraw. 11 to 13 U.S. aircraft; F-15s F-16s, A-10s, B-52s and 2 drones were scrambled and they carried out 31 airstrikes; which destroyed 2 more truck bombs and together the coalition forces repelled the attack. The battle continued for another 12 hours, in total; 58 militants were killed, 3 mortars and 20 of their vehicles were destroyed, Peshmerga forces captured at least 3 US-made Humvees that ISIS had itself captured from the Iraqi military in 2014. However, Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles Keating IV; a U.S. Navy SEAL who was part of the QRF, was struck by direct ISIS small arms fire at 9:32am, he was medevaced to a medical facility in Erbil where he later died of his wound, making him the third American servicemen to be killed in combat during Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. 10 Peshmerga fighters were also killed and a further 30 wounded, 2 U.S. medevac helicopters were also damaged by small arms fire. The IS attack is part of their counter offensive on multiple fronts overnight to obtain new ground, in the case of the firefight at Tel Skuf, ISIS covertly assembled their forces and attacked before 6am into Kurdish territory, destroying a Peshmerga checkpoint on the way to Tel Skuf. Iraqi military sources said that special forces had foiled an attack by 5 suicide bombers in the village of Khirbirdan and Peshmerga forces repelled an IS assault on Wardak. Coalition aircraft carried out 7 airstrikes near Mosul hitting six groups of IS fighters as well as 2 vehicles, 3 weapons caches, a mortar system and other targets. U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren labeled the offensive as one of the most complex battlefield operations launched by ISIS since December 2015.[50][51][52][53][54][55]

Executions

On 30 March, ISIL terrorists electrocuted at least 15 civilians in the central Bab al-Toub neighborhood of Mosul, for allegedly collaborating with the government and passing information to state officials.[24]

On 7 April, ISIL executed 18 civilians after accusing them of spying for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Iraqi army. Eight of them were publicly beheaded in central Mosul, while ten others were burned to death inside a cage in front of hundreds of people.[25]

On 12 April, a source in Nineveh Province stated that ISIL carried an the execution in front of a student’s house, in the village of al-Haj Ali in Makhmur District, and in the presence of all the people in the village, for collaborating with the security forces.[56]

On 2 May, ISIS executed 17 citizens in Mosul for refusing to join the battles against the Iraqi security forces.[57]

Casualties

On 12 April, Nineveh Operations Command announced that hospitals in Nineveh Province received more than 500 bodies of ISIL fighters, during the military operations south of the province, especially in Qayyarah.[58]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Military Skill and Terrorist Technique Fuel Success of ISIS". New York Times. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Iraqi Forces kill ISIS Governor in Nineveh Province". 29 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Top ISIS officials killed in fresh strikes in Mosul
  4. 1 2 "In joint operation, Kurdish and US Special Forces kill top ISIS leader in Mosul". Rudaw. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "NRT English". Nalia Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "ISIS military commander of Qayyarah killed south of Mosul". Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "U.S. sees Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul in April-May time frame". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "10000 Peshmerga forces to participate in Mosul operation". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 "US combat troops in anti-IS Mosul offensive". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Pentagon: More troops needed to train Iraqis". WWLP.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Iraq halts ISIL offensive as more ground troops needed". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Iraqi forces ready for second push on strategic village held by ISIS". Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  13. 1 2 "n fierce clashes, Iraqi army fighting ISIS for strategic northern village". Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Clashes between Iraqi Army and ISIS underway in Nasser village". Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "ISIS attack Iraqi Army in western Makhmour". Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  16. 1 2 Abdelhak Mamoun (26 March 2016). "25 ISIS militants killed in artillery shelling south of Mosul". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news by Iraqi News. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  17. 1 2 "40 ISIS militants including suicide bombers killed south of Mosul". IraqiNews.com. 2 April 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Security forces kill 30 "terrorists" in Makhmour south of Mosul". Iraqi News. 4 April 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Coalition aircraft kill 50 ISIS militants in central Mosul". 6 April 2016.
  20. 1 2 "70 ISIS militants killed in military operation south of Mosul". 6 April 2016.
  21. 1 2 "ISIS-controlled supply bridge in Mosul destroyed by Iraqi airstrikes in dramatic footage". Daily Mirror. 7 April 2016.
  22. 1 2 Nineveh Operations liberates Mahana village in eastern Qayyarah, 200 ISIS militants killed
  23. 1 2 Security forces kill 91 ISIS elements, foil ISIS attack south of Mosul
  24. 1 2 "Daesh terrorists kill 50 Iraqi citizens in Iraqi Fallujah, Mosul". 31 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  25. 1 2 "ISIS jihadis execute 18 civilians in Mosul on charges of spying". 8 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "ISIS beheads another Peshmerga as Kurds back Iraqi army in Makhmour offensive". Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  27. ↑ "US, Peshmerga and Iraqi Army launch offensive". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  28. ↑ "Kurdish Peshmerga forces hit ISIS positions in Mosul". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  29. ↑ "ISIL attacks Iraq base, four Turkish soldiers wounded". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  30. ↑ "MIDEAST - Turkey hits ISIL positions in northern Iraq after Turkish soldier killed". Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  31. 1 2 3 Iraqi army launches offensive to push Isis out of Mosul, The Guardian, 24 March 2016
  32. ↑ "Iraqi army readies for assault on Mosul". Al Jazeera. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  33. ↑ "Long-awaited battle to take back Mosul will be toughest yet". PBS. 28 March 2016.
  34. ↑ Iraqi Army Meets Stiff IS Resistance in Mosul Offensive, Voice of America, 24 March 2016
  35. ↑ ISIS executioner killed by assassins in occupied city of Mosul (27 March 2016)
  36. ↑ "Iraqi Soldiers Flee Again in Iraq Army’s First Mosul Operation". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  37. ↑ "Civilian exodus begins as Iraqi forces close in on Mosul". The Telegraph. 2 April 2016.
  38. ↑ "Islamic State Hijacks Mosul University Chemistry Lab for Making Bombs". Wall Street Journal. 1 April 2016.
  39. ↑ Jeremy Bender (13 April 2016). "Watch a US-led precision airstrike obliterate an ISIS weapon cache". Business Insider. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  40. ↑ "With Turkey's blessing, coalition planes destroy ISIS-occupied Turkish consulate in Mosul". Jerusalem Post. 4 April 2016.
  41. ↑ Abdelhak Mamoun (7 April 2016). "Coalition airstrike kills 30 ISIS fighters south of Mosul, rockets laboratory destroyed". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news by Iraqi News. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  42. ↑ "Int'l coalition airstrikes kill 30 IS militants in Mosul". Kuna. 9 April 2016.
  43. ↑ Kelly-Ann Mills (14 April 2016). "RAF Tornados destroy ISIS terrorist positions in Iraq in this Ministry of Defence footage". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  44. ↑ "NRT English". Nalia Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  45. ↑ Amre Sarhan (19 April 2016). "Peshmerga forces liberate 2 villages northeast of Mosul". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news by Iraqi News. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  46. ↑ Iraqi army makes modest advance south of Mosul
  47. ↑ http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/35-isis-fighters-killed-artillery-shelling-south-mosul/
  48. ↑ Australian IS recruiter Neil Prakash 'killed in Iraq'
  49. ↑ http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/9-isis-militants-killed-iraqi-army-shelling-south-mosul/
  50. ↑ "Inside the Battle With ISIS That Killed a US Navy SEAL". ABC news. 4 May 2016.
  51. ↑ "Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV gave life rescuing others from ISIS". CNN. 5 May 2016.
  52. ↑ "Video shows Navy Seal's death was result of intense combat with Isis". the guardian. 4 May 2016.
  53. ↑ "US navy Seal killed in 'direct fire' from Isis, Pentagon says". the guardian. 3 May 2016.
  54. ↑ "US Navy Seal killed in Iraq as IS breaches Peshmerga lines". BBC News. 4 May 2016.
  55. ↑ "U.S. Navy SEAL killed in Iraq battle vs. ISIS". CBS. 3 May 2016.
  56. ↑ Abdelhak Mamoun (12 April 2016). "ISIS executes college student in front of his house south of Mosul". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news by Iraqi News. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  57. ↑ http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/isis-executes-17-people-mosul-refusing-fight-iraqi-forces/
  58. ↑ Abdelhak Mamoun (12 April 2016). "Mosul hospitals receives more than 500 ISIS bodies during Nineveh operations". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news by Iraqi News. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
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