WEST MOSUL – Gunfire sounds in the background. In an adjacent alleyway, Islamic State snipers keep watch for movement. On the roof above our heads the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are pouring fire into buildings occupied by the terrorists.

Five members of the Iraqi Federal Police sit on chairs and boxes in a street, sheltered from the battle. One of their colleagues is busy trying to pry open a box of .50 caliber ammo, as another man feeds a belt of bullets into the squad’s machine gun. It’s the sixth month of the battle to re-take Mosul and coming up on the third anniversary of Iraq’s war against ISIS.

In the battle for Mosul, the Iraqi Army has deployed a variety of its best units, including the 9th Armored Division, the black-clad Special Operations Forces and the Federal Police.

The name may conjure up traffic stops and men rescuing kittens from trees, but in the Iraqi context “federal police” is a mechanized infantry unit: thousands of men in dark blue camouflage with Humvees and machine guns. Accompanying them is another elite unit called the ERD, or Emergency Response Division.

Together they have done the heavy lifting since January, when the operation to liberate West Mosul began. Streetby- street they have fought to dislodge what remains of the “caliphate.” There are fewer than 1,000 ISIS fighters left, according to the Iraqis and their American-led coalition allies. But these are the hard core – many of them foreign fighters, such as the Chechen snipers who have been dealing death on this front for months.

ISIS has burrowed into the Old City of Mosul, into buildings that date back hundreds of years. Here they are making one of their last stands around the Nuri Mosque, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his so-called caliphate in 2014.

They’ll fight to the death in the basement of the mosque, an Iraqi officer thinks.

Lt.-Col. John Hawbaker – commander of a combat team of the 82nd Airborne Division, which is advising and assisting the Iraqi forces – served in Iraq during the surge of 2005-2006, when America was fighting the Iraqi insurgency. He says the contrast today is extraordinary.

Ten years ago the Iraqi Army was more limited than today.

“The Federal Police are extremely professional and disciplined and capable, and that’s one of the biggest differences from 10 years ago,” he declares. The US-led coalition that is helping to defeat ISIS stresses that the Iraqis are fully in charge of the operation and they are the ones leading it.

Jared Kushner and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford were in Baghdad on Monday to illustrate the high priority the US puts on Iraq’s efforts to crush ISIS.

That’s obvious on the ground. Although the coalition provides artillery and air support, there is no visible presence of coalition forces at the front. It is Iraqis carrying the fight.

The older Iraqi officers have been fighting ISIS in Fallujah, Ramadi and other cities for the last two years. They say the battle for Mosul is difficult, because ISIS cannot retreat here and has to fight to the last man. But they’ve seen more serious battles in 2015 when ISIS was stronger.

Their men have been forged in this war. As we crawled through holes smashed in the walls of houses to make our way to the roof of one position, soldiers were in each room. One team was looking out for snipers, another preparing RPGs, and others catching a bit of rest on cots. On the roof, soldiers are unlimbering an SPG-9, a kind of long-barreled cannon on a tripod that fires RPGs through a small hole cut in the wall.

“The ISF have victory in hand – it is inevitable; they know it and ISIS knows it.

Everyone can see and knows they will win,” says Hawbaker.

ISIS was like a shot in the arm for Baghdad, it provided the existential threat that has led to the creation of an increasingly professional, stronger army that is more self-assured than it was before 2014. The next years will reveal if Iraq can build on that success.</s>Jawad al-Talibawi, a military spokesman for the League of Righteous People, declared that ISIS leaders started fleeing the city of Mosul and abandoning foreign fighters.



The Iraqi military have witnessed children being used as human shields as the supposed “caliphate” crumbles.

It follows reports that the gutless extremist group used 17 suicide car bombers and 300 terrorist fighters “to help leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi flee from Mosul”.



The escape took place after the fall of east Mosul and before the Iraqi security forces began their final attack on Daesh-held west Mosul on February 19 and the terror group were jubilant to get their leader away.

Fuad Hussain, chief of staff to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, said: “ISIS used 17 suicide car bombs from Mosul and some of their units from Syria to clear the road leading out of Mosul for a few hours.”



He added ISIS would only have carried out such an elaborate operation and suffered so many casualties in order to bring al-Baghdadi to safety.

Al-Baghdadi led the group to a series of victories, including the seizure of Mosul in 2014, since he became leader of the militant group seven years ago.



As the group lose territory and the flow of foreign fighters falls the authorities are trying to close the social media accounts used by the brutal jihadi’s.

Citizens from Mosul have had to abandon their homes due to the fighting

When the Iraqi army fled Mosul two years ago, leaving it in the hands of ISIS, it was a source of national humiliation. Retaking it, therefore, is about more than territory and security, it is about restoring reputation and pride.



Despite the progress coalition forces are worried about the future for northern Iraq as there is currently no political plan for sharing power or running the regained territory after the fall of Mosul and the defeat of Islamic State.



Professor Bill Durodie, chair of international relations at Bath University, said ISIS has become “desperate”, so they have sought new ways to gain recognition.</s>U.S. And Iraqi Forces Set To Deploy New Tactics In Mosul

The U.S. and Iraqi forces are changing tactics to force ISIS from Mosul. Facing stiff resistance and mounting casualties, they're going to slow the offensive and reinforce existing frontlines.</s>U.S. And Iraqi Forces Set To Deploy New Tactics In Mosul

The U.S. and Iraqi forces are changing tactics in the battle to force ISIS from the city of Mosul. Facing resistance and mounting casualties, they're slowing down while keeping ISIS surrounded.</s>The U.S. and Iraq are changing tactics in the fierce battle against ISIS for the Iraqi city of Mosul, NPR News has learned.

The Iraqi commander coordinating the battle tells NPR the Iraqi military will slow an offensive pushing into the crowded old district of the city to try to minimize civilian casualties. The new tactics will mean fewer U.S. and Iraqi air strikes.

"We agreed among the commanders to not depend on the air strikes because that means we will maybe lose a lot of people," says Maj. Gen. Najm Abdullah al-Jabouri, head of the Ninevah Operations Command.

More than 100 Iraqi civilians were killed in U.S. air strikes on March 17 in the Mosul Jadidah neighborhood. The Pentagon is investigating whether the air strikes also set off ISIS-laid explosives that contributed to houses collapsing. Jabouri says the military had not realized there were dozens of people sheltering in many of the houses.

"Because of the shortage of air strikes now we need to make some maneuvers to change our plans," says Jabouri.

The new plan will also involve repositioning troops to reinforce areas surrounding West Mosul rather than pushing south into the old city. Iraqi forces have entirely surrounded the city leaving ISIS with no escape route. But that plan has also trapped an estimated 400,000 civilians being used by ISIS as human shields. Residents of Mosul say ISIS fighters routinely shoot at anyone trying to leave.

While U.S. and coalition air strikes paved the way for Iraqi forces to retake less densely populated East Mosul, the battle across the river in streets too narrow for armored vehicles requires house-to-house fighting.

"We moved very quickly on the east side of the city but our mission now is very difficult," says Jabouri. "We have now liberated more than 50 percent of the city and we know very well the people still in the city are suffering a lot because of the shortage of food, water, electricity, everything."

Along with several thousand civilians killed or injured in the battle for Mosul, the Iraqi military has also suffered heavy losses. US and Iraqi commanders say almost 800 Iraqi forces have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded. As they move further into West Mosul they have encountered more effective ISIS defensive lines.

Jabouri estimates between 700 and 800 ISIS fighters remain in Mosul.

"That's not very much but the problem is the number of civilians still in the city," he says. "What use is it to liberate Mosul if you have so many losses."</s>ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Two Iraqi army pilots were killed on Thursday when their helicopter was shot down over the city of Mosul by Islamic State, according to a military statement.

The helicopter was providing air support to Federal Police forces battling Islamic State fighters on the western side of Mosul, the statement said.

It is the first aircraft downed by Islamic State over Mosul since the start of the U.S.-backed offensive on the northern Iraqi city, in October.

Mosul is Islamic State’s last major city stronghold in Iraq. The hardline group seized the city nearly three years ago, declaring from one of its old mosques a “caliphate” that also spans parts of Syria.

Islamic State’s news agency Amaq said the helicopter crashed in al-Ghabat, east of the Tigris river which runs through Mosul. The Iraqi military statement also located the crash on the eastern side, which was recaptured from the militants in January, after 100 days of fighting.

The insurgents are putting up stiff resistance in the remaining district under their control in northwestern Mosul and the densely populated Old City.

The militants are dug in surrounded by civilians, effectively using them as human shields and taking advantage of the narrow streets of the Old City that restrict the movements of the Iraqi forces and limit the use of artillery and air power.</s>U.S. And Iraqi Forces Set To Deploy New Tactics In Mosul

The U.S. and Iraqi forces are changing tactics to force ISIS from Mosul. Facing stiff resistance and mounting casualties, they're going to slow the offensive and reinforce existing frontlines.</s>On March 17, US warplanes attacked a handful of buildings in the city of Mosul, leveling the buildings and burying a massive number of civilians within. US officials have since admitted that they were “probably” responsible for the deaths of civilians in the attacks.

Estimates varied, and the Iraqi government has now offered some guidance on the matter, confirming they’ve recovered 278 civilian bodies from the rubble so far, and that there are still more to be found. This was at the higher end of estimates previously offered by third parties.

This confirmation of the toll, which is likely to keep rising as bodies are found, already makes this the single deadliest US strike of the entire ISIS war. It is also in the ballpark of the deadliest airstrikes in the history of modern warfare.

With Pentagon officials conceding at least “probable” blame, and Iraq providing specific death tolls, it remains to be seen how the Pentagon will handle this incident in next month’s report on civilian tolls. The Pentagon’s reports usually dramatically under count the number of civilians claimed, but the sheer size of this incident will make it difficult to bury.
• US Launched Over 20 Airstrikes Against Yemen This Past Weekend - April 5th, 2017
• US Navy Grounds T-45 Training Jets Because Instructors Won't Fly in Them - April 5th, 2017</s>Civilian Deaths In Mosul Lead U.S. and Iraqi Forces To Change Tactics Against ISIS

The U.S. and Iraq are changing tactics in the fierce battle against ISIS for the Iraqi city of Mosul, NPR News has learned.

The Iraqi commander coordinating the battle tells NPR the Iraqi military will slow an offensive pushing into the crowded old district of the city to try to minimize civilian casualties. The new tactics will mean fewer U.S. and Iraqi air strikes.

"We agreed among the commanders to not depend on the air strikes because that means we will maybe lose a lot of people," says Maj. Gen. Najm Abdullah al-Jabouri, head of the Ninevah Operations Command.

More than 100 Iraqi civilians were killed in U.S. air strikes on March 17 in the Mosul Jadidah neighborhood. The Pentagon is investigating whether the air strikes also set off ISIS-laid explosives that contributed to houses collapsing. Jabouri says the military had not realized there were dozens of people sheltering in many of the houses.

"Because of the shortage of air strikes now we need to make some maneuvers to change our plans," says Jabouri.

The new plan will also involve repositioning troops to reinforce areas surrounding West Mosul rather than pushing south into the old city. Iraqi forces have entirely surrounded the city leaving ISIS with no escape route. But that plan has also trapped an estimated 400,000 civilians being used by ISIS as human shields. Residents of Mosul say ISIS fighters routinely shoot at anyone trying to leave.

While U.S. and coalition air strikes paved the way for Iraqi forces to retake less densely populated East Mosul, the battle across the river in streets too narrow for armored vehicles requires house-to-house fighting.

"We moved very quickly on the east side of the city but our mission now is very difficult," says Jabouri. "We have now liberated more than 50 percent of the city and we know very well the people still in the city are suffering a lot because of the shortage of food, water, electricity, everything."

Along with several thousand civilians killed or injured in the battle for Mosul, the Iraqi military has also suffered heavy losses. US and Iraqi commanders say almost 800 Iraqi forces have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded. As they move further into West Mosul they have encountered more effective ISIS defensive lines.

Jabouri estimates between 700 and 800 ISIS fighters remain in Mosul.

"That's not very much but the problem is the number of civilians still in the city," he says. "What use is it to liberate Mosul if you have so many losses."</s>MOSUL (Iraq) (Sputnik) — Militants from Daesh have shot down a military helicopter over the city of Mosul, both pilots were killed, the Iraqi Army said on Thursday.

According to an army statement, the helicopter was shot down, while providing fire support for Iraqi federal police units attacking Daesh positions on approaches to the so-called "Old City" district of Mosul.
Two Iraqi Army pilots are killed when their Mi-24 helicopter is shot down by ISIS over the city of Mosul.