Posted on 11/22/2016 2:27:14 PM PST by SeekAndFind
U.S. forces backing an Iraqi army campaign against Islamic State in Mosul carried out an air strike on a bridge spanning the Tigris river, restricting militant movements between western and eastern parts of the city, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
U.S.-trained Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service forces are pushing deeper into east Mosul, the last major city controlled by the Sunni hard-line group in Iraq, while army and police units, Shi'ite militias and Kurdish fighters surround it to the west, south and north.
Militants have steadily retreated into Mosul from outlying areas. The army's early advances have slowed as militants dig in, using the more than 1 million civilians inside the city as a shield, moving through tunnels, and hitting troops with suicide bombers, snipers and mortar fire.
Five bridges span the Tigris that runs through Mosul. They have all been mined and boobytrapped by militants who took over the city two years ago as they swept through northern Iraq and declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
Despite planting the mines, Islamic State fighters have so far been able to continue using those bridges which have not yet been destroyed by air strikes.
Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said on Tuesday an air strike hit the number four bridge, the southernmost, in the past 48 hours.
"This effort impedes Daesh's freedom of movement in Mosul. It inhibits their ability to resupply or reinforce their fighters throughout the city," he said using an Arabic acronym for the militant group.
A month ago, a U.S. air strike destroyed the No. 2 bridge in the center of the city and two weeks later another strike took out the No. 5 bridge to the north.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Release the AC-130s!!! MOAB their butts!!!
A Kurdish security source said on Tuesday four Islamic State commanders were captured in a U.S. special operation near Baaj, a town close to the Syrian border. Unfortunately, Al-Baghdadi was not among them.
Probably Putin said if you don’t I will. Just like those ISIS oil trucks.
Why bomb the bridges now? What have been done in the past two years?
I think I would refer the A-10’s.
Maybe Spooky?
Blowing up a bridge does nothing. They need to kill some people.
Russia is not actively involved in Iraq.
Their war against jihadis is in Syria.
Iraq is our area of operation against ISIS.
How many bridges and top commanders have been killed? How many times has the press said we were close to victory? I think they will say that we won so that Trump gets blamed for the war.
Barack has been micromanaging the attacks?
Knocking out bridges is great to prevent heavy armor or equipment to move about, but surgical strikes will do more to crush ISIS troops. Unfortunately, up until now OBAMA has refused to bomb his peeps back into th Stone Age.
RE: Blowing up a bridge does nothing. They need to kill some people.
All in due time. First, limit their ability to move, then swoop in for the kill.
Why weren’t all 5 of those bridges rubble 18 months ago? In WWII bridges and railroads were high value targets. Can we fight this to win now, then come home? Please?
The requested URL “/blog/penny-starr/” was not found on this server.
Wow
We destroyed a bridge
One bridge
Shock and awe
Release the AC-130s!!! MOAB their butts!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And repeat same until there are none left standing.
Obama is stupid. Why didnt they destroy the bridges 2 years ago, take out ISIS ,and put the bridges back? Something not right here.
Hmmmm.
Took three years to figure out that destroyed bridges limit flow.
Basically Keane said that hussein has no strategy to fight isis and has ignored everything brought to him by the generals.
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.