Mosul liberation

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Mosul liberation
Part of Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)
Date21 July 2017
Location Mosul, Iraq
Coordinates 36°21′24″N43°09′50″E / 36.3566°N 43.1640°E / 36.3566; 43.1640 Coordinates: 36°21′24″N43°09′50″E / 36.3566°N 43.1640°E / 36.3566; 43.1640

Mosul liberation refers to the victory of a major military campaign launched by the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces in October 2016 to liberate the city of Mosul from the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially announced the liberation of the city on 10 July 2017, [1] though heavy fighting and resistance persisted until 21 July. The Islamic State took control of the city in June 2014. During their three-year reign, they committed many atrocities.

Contents

Background

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, is the capital of Nineveh Governorate in northwestern Iraq and surrounds the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. The city used to be one of the most "enlightened cities" in the Middle East hosting one of the largest educational and research centers in Iraq and the region. It also contained ancient buildings, some dating back to the 13th century such as the Great Mosque and the Red Mosque, Muslim shrines and several churches, in addition to mausoleums. [2]

Mosul played a key role in ISIS becoming a legitimate threat in the region and drawing recruits from abroad. It was there that, in July 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance to pronounce the group's "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria at the site of the 12th century Great Mosque of al-Nuri. [3]

The original population of 2.5 million fell to approximately 1.5 million after two years of ISIL rule. The city was once extremely diverse, with ethnic minorities including Armenians, Yazidis, Assyrian, Turkmen, and Shabak people, all of whom suffered considerably under the (majority Sunni Arab) Islamic State. [4] Mosul had witnessed an earlier period of Sunni extremism in the last days of Saddam Hussein. [2] The city was the last stronghold of ISIL in Iraq, [5] ISIS massacred hundreds who attempted to flee the city in an attempt to deter others from doing the same. [6]

Operation

The anticipated offensive by the Iraqi army and allied forces to reclaim the city was promoted as the "mother of all battles". [7] [8] [9] [10] The final push to retake Mosul began in October 2016, when pro-government forces — from the Iraqi Security Forces to Peshmerga fighters and Popular Mobilization Forces — began massing near the city. The U.S. and its allies provided advisers, including Green Berets, in addition to airstrikes in support of the effort. [3] After eight months of difficult urban warfare, Iraqi military forces on June 29 captured the Mosul mosque at the heart of the strategic northern city, which Daesh had declared its de facto capital. [11] Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, US commander of the coalition, has described the campaign to liberate Mosul as the toughest urban warfare he has seen in 34 years of service. [6]

Last resistance

Fighting was still being reported in part of the northern city on the Tigris River after the declaration by the Iraqi prime minister. "They're now in one particular neighborhood, where the last pockets of ISIS fighters are fighting very hard. It's really their last stand," NPR's Jane Arraf reports from Mosul. "The problem is, there are civilians among them, still at least 2,000 civilians." [3]

Cornered in a shrinking area, the militants resorted to sending women suicide bombers among the thousands of civilians who are emerging from the battlefield wounded, malnourished and fearful, Iraqi army officers said. The struggle has also exacted a heavy toll on Iraq’s security forces. Meantime, the Iraqi people celebrated the liberation of the embattled city of Mosul in the capital of Baghdad on Sunday evening. [1]

Clashes persisted into 18 July, with a civilian being killed in a firefight in the Old City, near the Tigris River. [12]

Declaration of victory

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul Sunday and congratulated "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people" for their "great victory" over Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) after nearly nine months of urban warfare. The defeat in the city is considered a major blow for ISIS, which is also losing ground in its operational base in the Syrian city of Raqqa from where it has planned global attacks. State television later showed Abadi touring Mosul on foot alongside residents of Iraq's second-largest city. Airstrikes and exchanges of gunfire could still be heard in the narrow streets of the Old City, where the terror group has staged its last stand against Iraqi forces. [1]

Official declaration

The formal declaration of victory came a day later as part of a statement by al-Abadi aired by the state television on Monday.

City cleanup, renovation and resettlement

After the declaration the troops are reported to have been still dealing with explosives and mines in the city, Abadi's office says. The prime minister says officials will now work to restore services and infrastructure, stressing the importance of allowing residents to return to normal lives. [3]

On 17 July, clashes continued in Mosul's Old City. [13] An Iraqi soldier was killed and another was wounded in the Shahwan neighborhood, with four ISIL tunnels destroyed, as clearing operations continued. [14]

Celebration

As the Iraqi army was eliminating the remaining ISIS forces, the Iraqi people celebrated the liberation of the embattled city of Mosul in the capital of Baghdad on Sunday evening. [1]

Congratulations and statements by foreign officials

At a cultural ceremony in Tehran on Monday, General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force, said that humanity owes a great deal to the Iraqi and Syrian nations for their victories in the fight against terrorism. “Those who believed that it (the conflicts in Iraq and Syria) is a sedition involving Shiites and Sunnis and that Iran would be brought to its knees, themselves faced terrible incidents,” General Soleimani added. He further lauded the Iraqi religious authorities, particularly top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for taking a leading role in the formation of the Popular Mobilization Units, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, which resulted in successive victories against Daesh and the recapture of Mosul. [15]

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri and Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan sent congratulatory messages to top Iraqi military officials. In his message to the Iraqi prime minister, Ebadi, Iran’s Major GeneralBaqeri described the liberation of Mosul as the manifestation of national unity and resistance, expressing confidence that close cooperation between the armed forces of Iran and Iraq would foil the plots by the “hegemonic and trans-regional powers and enemies of the Islamic community.” In the message to Hadi Al-Amiri, the senior Iranian general hailed Mosul liberation as a result of “historic acts of devotion” by the Hashd al-Shaabi forces, stressing the need for plans to maintain and strengthen the Popular Mobilization Units for the sake of Iraq’s future. In another message to the Iraqi defense minister, the Iranian commander said the operation in Mosul marked a great victory against the Takfiri terrorists, the Zionist regime of Israel, and the regional reactionary regimes. Separately, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan congratulated his Iraqi counterpart and Hadi al-Ameri on the liberation of Mosul. “This great victory which foiled the plots by the US and the usurping Zionist regime (of Israel) in Iraq will lead to the complete defeat of the strategy of proxy war waged by the hegemony in the region, God willing,” Dehqan said in the message to his Iraqi counterpart. [11]

Related Research Articles

War in Iraq (2013–2017) 2013–2017 war between Iraq and allies and ISIL along with various armed groups

The War in Iraq was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant which began in December 2013 and ended in December 2017. In 2013, the insurgency escalated into a full-scale war with the conquest of Ramadi, Fallujah, Mosul, Tikrit and other towns in the major areas of northern Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens. This resulted in the forced resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as a massive airstrike campaign by the United States and at least a dozen other countries, participation of American and Canadian troops in ground combat operations, a $3.5 billion U.S.-led program to rearm the Iraqi Security Forces, a U.S.-led training program that provided training to nearly 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, the participation of Iranian troops including armored and air elements, and military and logistical aid provided to Iraq by Russia.

History of Iraq (2011–present)

The departure of US troops from Iraq in 2011 ended the period of occupation that had begun with the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. The time since U.S. withdrawal has been marked by a renewed Iraqi insurgency and by a spillover of the Syrian civil war into Iraq. By 2013, the insurgency escalated into a renewed war, the central government of Iraq being opposed by ISIL and various factions, primarily radical Sunni forces during the early phase of the conflict. The war ended in 2017 with an Iraqi government and allied victory, however ISIL continues a low-intensity insurgency in remote parts of the country.

Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present)

Following the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) into northern Iraq in mid-2014, Iran began to provide military aid to counter the militant advance. Iran provided technical advisers to the Iraqi government and weapons to the Kurdish peshmerga. Several sources, among them Reuters, believe that since mid-June 2014, Iranian combat troops are in Iraq, which Iran denies. Two US sources contend that in June or July 2014 Iran started an air war against ISIL.

Liberation of Jurf Al Sakhar

Liberation of Jurf Al Sakhar, codenamed Operation Ashura, was a two-day military operation by Iraqi government forces and Iranian-backed PMU forces beginning on 24 October 2014, aimed at retaking the strategic city of Jurf Al Sakhar near Baghdad from ISIL. The operation was mainly aimed at preventing ISIS militants from reaching the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, where ISIS threatened to carry out attacks against the millions of Shia visitors commemorating the Day of Ashura.

Battle of Baiji (2014–2015)

The Battle of Baiji was a battle that took place in Baiji, Iraq, lasting from late October 2014 to late October 2015. In mid-November 2014, Iraqi forces retook the city of Baiji, and re-entered the Baiji Oil Refinery. However, fighting continued in the region, and on 21 December 2014, ISIL forces took Baiji and put the Baiji oil refinery under siege once again, before Iraqi forces recaptured the city on October 22. It gave Iraqi forces complete control of the highway stretching from Baghdad to Baiji, and allowed Iraqi forces to use Baiji as a base for launching a future assault on Mosul.

Second Battle of Tikrit

The Second Battle of Tikrit was a battle in which Iraqi Security Forces recaptured the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraqi forces consisted of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces, receiving assistance from Iran's Quds Force officers on the ground, and air support from the American, British, and French air forces.

Popular Mobilization Forces Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization composed of approximately 40 forces that are mostly Shia Muslim groups, but also include Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi groups. The Popular Mobilization Units as a group was formed in 2014 and have fought in nearly every major battle against ISIL. It has been called the new Iraqi Republican Guard after it was fully reorganized in early 2018 by its then–Commander in Chief Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq from 2014 to 2018, who issued "regulations to adapt the situation of the Popular Mobilization fighters". Some of its component militias are considered terrorist groups by some states, while others have been accused of sectarian violence.

Battle of Ramadi (2015–2016)

The Battle of Ramadi was a battle launched by the forces of Iraq to successfully recapture the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which had taken the city earlier in 2015 in a previous battle. Air power was a major component of the battle, with the United States and other nations conducting over 850 airstrikes in the Ramadi area from July 2015 to late February 2016, and the US crediting airstrikes with 80% of the reason why the city was recaptured. By February 2016, Iraqi forces successfully recaptured the city after two and a half months of fighting. It was predicted that it would take several months to clear the city of the bombs ISIL left behind, with at least 9 months needed to clear the city's Tamim District. At the time, Ramadi had suffered more damage than any other city or town in Iraq.

Shirqat offensive (2016) 2016 offensive against ISILs positions in Mosul and the surrounding region

The Shirqat offensive, codenamed Operation Conquest or Operation Fatah, was an offensive against the positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in and around the district of Al-Shirqat District to reach the city of Mosul.

Anbar campaign (2015–2016)

The Anbar campaign (2015–2016) was a military campaign launched by the Iraqi Armed Forces and their allies aimed at recapturing areas of the Anbar Governorate held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), including the city of Ramadi, which ISIL seized earlier in 2015. The United States and other nations aided Iraq with airstrikes.

Qayyarah Place in Nineveh, Iraq

Qayyarah or Qayara is an Iraqi town located in southern Nineveh Governorate on the west bank of the Tigris river, and about 60 km south of Mosul. It is located in the Mosul District, and it is the seat of Qayyarah subdistrict. It has a population of 15,000. The town is located near the Qayyarah oil field and has an oil refinery on its south-western outskirts. The Qayyarah Airfield West is 20 kilometers west of the town.

Third Battle of Fallujah Offensive which started on 22 May 2016

The Third Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Breaking Terrorism by the Iraqi government, was a military operation against ISIL launched to capture the city of Fallujah and its suburbs, located about 69 kilometres (43 mi) west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The operation began on 22 May 2016, three months after the Iraqi forces had started the total siege of Fallujah. On 26 June, Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah, before recapturing the remaining pocket of ISIL resistance in Fallujah's western outskirts two days later.

Battle of Mosul (2016–2017) Military history

The Battle of Mosul was a major military campaign launched by the Iraqi Government forces with allied militias, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and international forces to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL), which had seized the city in June 2014. The battle was the world's single largest military operation in nearly 15 years, the largest since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was considered the toughest urban warfare since World War II.

During the course of the Battle of Mosul (2016–17), an international coalition, primarily composed of the Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga, CJTF–OIR, along with the allied Popular Mobilization Forces, Company A, 2-502 Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, captured Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which had used Mosul as the capital for the Iraqi half of its "caliphate".

The Battle of Tal Afar was an offensive announced on 20 August 2017 by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in order to liberate the Tal Afar region from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Victory in the battle was declared by the Prime Minister al-Abadi following the capture of the last ISIL-held area in Tal Afar district.

2017 Western Iraq campaign

The 2017 Western Iraq campaign was the final major military operation of the War in Iraq, in the western province of Anbar, and on the border with Syria, with the goal of completely expelling ISIL forces from their last strongholds in Iraq.

Battle of Hawija

The Battle of Hawija was an offensive launched in September 2017 by the Iraqi Army, in order to recapture the town of Hawija and the surrounding areas from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

ISIL insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Insurgency in Iraq since the defeat of ISIL

The ISIL insurgency in Iraq is an ongoing low-intensity insurgency that began in late 2017 after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) lost territorial control in the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017. ISIL and allied White Flags fought the Iraqi military and allied paramilitary forces.

The following is a timeline of the Battle of Mosul (2016–17) between February to July 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tasnim News Agency - Iraqi PM Congratulates Army after Defeat of Daesh in Mosul". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  2. 1 2 "Factbox: Once-tolerant Mosul site of Iraq push against Islamic State". Reuters. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mosul Has Been Liberated From ISIS Control, Iraq's Prime Minister Says". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  4. ↑ Bulos, Nabih (2 October 2016). "The battle in Iraq that could turn the tide against Islamic State: The fight for Mosul is about to begin". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Gordon, Michael R.; Arango, Tim (17 October 2016). "Kurdish Troops Advance on ISIS-Held Villages East of Mosul". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Iraqi Government Declares Mosul Liberated From Islamic State". Bloomberg.com. 2017-07-09. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  7. ↑ Ensor, Josie (17 October 2016). "Isil 'launches suicide attacks' on Kurdish forces in Mosul as bloody battle to retake terror group's Iraq stronghold begins". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Iraqi army begins 'mother of all battles' to reclaim Mosul". msn.com. 17 October 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Hughes, Chris (17 October 2016). "ISIS under devastating attack as 'mother of all battles' begins in Mosul". The Mirror. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Wedeman, Ben (25 August 2016). "Will ISIS be pushed easily from Mosul?". CNN. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Tasnim News Agency - Iran's Top General, DM Congratulate Iraq on Full Liberation of Mosul". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  12. ↑ "Civilian killed by random bullet fired during clashes in Mosul's Old City". Iraqi News. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "In Mosul, Fighting Continues After Iraqi Government Declared Victory Over ISIS". npr. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  14. ↑ "Soldier killed in clashes with IS vestiges in Mosul's Old City". Iraqi News . 17 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Tasnim News Agency - General Soleimani: Mosul Liberation A Victory for Humanity". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
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