Posted on 10/30/2016 7:51:26 AM PDT by Cronos
Iraqi Shia militias have launched an offensive to the west of Mosul in an operation intended to tighten the noose around Islamic States Iraq stronghold. But the move has alarmed Turkey and could inflame tensions in the mainly Sunni area
A spokesman for the Shia militias, known as the Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) forces, said thousands of fighters started operations [on Saturday] morning to clean up the hotbeds of Daesh [Islamic State] in the western parts of Mosul.
The militias aim to capture villages west of Mosul and reach the town of Tal Afar, about 35 miles from the city, the Hashid spokesman said. Their goal is to cut off any retreat by Islamic State insurgents into neighbouring Syria or any reinforcement for their defence of Mosul.
But their deployment close to the border with neighbouring Turkey prompted a warning from that nations president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said Ankara aims to reinforce its troops on the frontier and threatened a different response for the militias if they unleash terror in Tal Afar.
Turkish troops have been training Sunni tribal combatants at an Iraqi camp north-east of Mosul, but a spokesman for the Shia militias said earlier on Saturday the Turks were in no position to obstruct their advance.
The Iran-backed and battle-hardened paramilitaries bring additional firepower to the nearly two-week-old campaign to recapture Iraqs second largest city from the jihadi group.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
ISIS did a lot of bad things to Shiites in recent years. Should be some payback on its way.
Their lives will now be controlled by Shia psychopaths instead of ISIS psychopaths.
The Iraqi Shiite militias have given the USA far fewer problems than the Sunnis and their ISIS offspring, having taken far more from the Sunnis than they have dished-out. Maybe that is why our leftist media always bad mouths them so much.
An added benefit is that they want to see Mecca razed to the ground.
Good post.
The coalition left a 60 km. gap on the west side of Mosul for an escape path that we could turn into a kill zone. ISIS didn’t fall for it.
That gap will be bitterly contested as the coalition enters Mosul from the N, E, and S quarters. The Shia militias know that any fight with ISIS is to the death, no prisoners.
Sunni units are very much suspect and are closely supervised. They are also far less motivated to fight the Salafist ISIS fighters as many of them are Salafists also.
We are shaping the battlefield by elint more than any battle ever fought. The Shia militias are also drone driven - Iranian drones that is.
Not really — the Kurds are also coming in and they are socialists. Also the lesser of two evils — compared to the Islamic state or any other Salaiis, Shias are better.
It's my understanding that most of the residents in Mosul are Sunni, Christian, and non-jihadist Salafists.
I agree that ISIS has the highest score on the cruelty meter and must be annihilated.
But, cold comfort indeed, when your “Liberators” are aligned with Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Guards, and the formerly oppressed Shias of southern Iraq!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.