Islamic State holds up Iraqi army south of Mosul

Reuters ^ | 26 October 2016 | Babak Dehghanpisheh and Saif Hameed

[Lorianne]

Islamic State fighters kept up on Wednesday their fierce defense of the southern approaches to Mosul, which has held up Iraqi troops there and forced an elite army unit east of the city to put a more rapid advance on hold.

Ten days into what is expected to be the biggest ground offensive in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, army and federal police units aim to dislodge the militants from villages in the region of Shora, 30 km (20 miles) south of Mosul.

The frontlines in other areas have moved much closer to the edges of the city, the last major stronghold under control of the militants in Iraq, who have held it since 2014. The elite army unit which moved in from the east has paused its advance as it approaches built-up areas, waiting for the other attacking forces to close the gap.

"As Iraqi forces move closer to Mosul, we see that Daesh resistance is getting stronger," said Major Chris Parker, a coalition spokesman at the Qayyara airbase south of Mosul that serves as a hub for the campaign. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The combat ahead is likely to get more deadly as 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case U.N. forecasts see up to a million people being uprooted.

A Reuters correspondent on the southern front met villagers and police who said their relatives had been taken as human shields to cover the fighters' retreat from the area.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Of course ISIS is going to fight. Retreating losers have been publicly executed in all sorts of ways.

[ExSES]

Gee..., I wonder if all the announcements related to the offensive in the media over the past few months has anything to do with it? I'm sure ISIS doesn't read and prepare defenses accordingly...FUBAR+++

[Diogenesis]

Every move was telegraphed in advance by the stupid
Americans and their MSM.

Every move was broadcast 2 months in advance.

Every move.

Why?

_ _ e a _ o _

[Jimmy The Snake]

And a city of 1.5 million people is the size of Cleveland OH. Just to put it in perspective. OR 3 times the size of Stalingrad in WW2.

[CivilWarBrewing]

"Every move was broadcast 2 months in Advance.. WHY?"

0dungheap's effort to GENERATE MORE REFUGEES before he leaves office!

It's all about GENERATING AS MANY REFUGEES AS POSSIBLE before he leaves office. MORE refugees for eventual placement in EU and U.S. cities. 0DUNGHEAP'S GROWING THE MUSLIM CALIPHATE WORLDWIDE !