Islamic State Group Using Human Shields in Mosul
- by Enrique Stewart
- in Technology
- — Oct 22, 2016
Daesh (ISIS) militants armed with assault rifles and explosives attacked targets in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk early Friday, in an assault that appeared aimed at diverting Iraqi security forces from a massive offensive against the Daesh-held city of Mosul.
In a significant escalation of the battle for Mosul, elite Iraqi special forces joined the fight Thursday, unleashing a pre-dawn assault on a town held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant east of the besieged city, and the USA military announced the first American combat death since the operation began.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the death was a 'reminder that our people who are participating in the counter-ISIL campaign, whether they be flying aircraft or working with the Iraqi security forces and the other forces and enabling their consistent advances of the kind that we see in the region of Mosul today, are in harm's way'.
Iraqi special forces pushed into Bartella, nine miles (15 kilometers) from Mosul's outskirts, on Thursday, after fending off a wave of suicide truck attacks.
Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces launched a multi-pronged assault this week to retake Mosul and surrounding areas from Islamic State militants.
The coalition announced that a U.S. service member accompanying elite Iraqi forces northeast of Mosul was killed on Thursday.
According to early estimates from Kirkuk, at least 19 people were killed in a string of attacks, including at least six police officers. "Although we provide support for the Iraqi forces in Iraq, it does not mean that we are able to intervene directly, using our army", the French president said. 12 ISIS were reported killed in the fighting, but clashes are ongoing.
Officials said that 13 employees - include 5 Iranians, Iraq's electricity minister said - were killed in an attack on a power station under construction.
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Danner shared the "Living with Schizophrenia" essay in July 2015 with state Mental Hygiene Legal Service attorney Charles J. Police shootings have come to the fore in the U.S. in recent years, with the black community suffering disproportionately.
Zeid said that Iraq must respect worldwide law when screening civilians leaving areas controlled by Islamic State, a job that should only be done by army and police.
Those held captive by the Islamic State - particularly from ethnic or religious communities the Islamist group has specifically victimized - are at extreme risk, Hussein said, adding that his agency has documented incidents since Monday in which the Islamic State forced people to leave their homes in nearby villages to head to the embattled city.
Zebari's statement corresponds with intelligence reports said that al-Baghdadi was still in Mosul alongside ISIS top commander Fawzi Ali.
The governor of Kirkuk, Najmeddin Karim, told AFP he suspected the involvement of IS sleeper cells. The villages where most of the fighting has taken place are largely uninhabited, so the USA -led coalition has been able to use airstrikes and heavy artillery to help flush the militants out.
Mr Carter made clear that details on Turkey's potential role in the unfolding Mosul campaign still needed to be hammered out and a senior United States defence official noted non-military assistance was also a possibility.
It said up to 1.2 million people may still be inside Mosul, trapped by the estimated 3000 to 4500 IS fighters digging in for a major urban assault by the advancing Iraqi forces.
In this image made from video, smoke rises from a building where two militants are believed to be holed up, according to Rudaw TV, in Kirkuk, Iraq, Friday, Oct. 21, 2016.
Kirkuk is an oil rich city some 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad that is claimed by both Iraq's central government and the country's Kurdish region.
