ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A large Iraqi force deployed outside al-Nasr village on the northern Makhmour front early Tuesday, awaiting orders for a full-scale offensive on the strategic village where ISIS has put up stiff resistance after nearly a fortnight of fighting.
An Iraqi commander told Rudaw English that the army forces, fighting together with a Sunni militia, are ready for another big push to retake the village, after being beaten back the previous night.
“There is a huge force deployed close to the village,” said Blind Hatim, a Kurdish commander in the Iraqi army who said his forces had captured about half the village in fighting Monday, but retreated in the evening under orders by higher officers.
He said new reinforcements had arrived for Tuesday’s offensive. The army has been fighting ISIS on the Makhmour front, south of Erbil, since March 24. The offensive is a prelude for the fight to recapture Mosul, the ISIS stronghold in Iraq since the group seized the city in June 2014.
“Brigade 91 and infantry troops from the Mosul operation have joined us since last night,” Hatim explained.
He said that snipers, suicide bombers and mortar fire from the village were some of the hazards faced by his soldiers.
Hakim, who has been involved in the fighting for al-Nasr, confirmed there had been Iraqi army casualties, but declined to say how many.
Reporters on the scene said Monday they had seen some two dozen dead Iraqi soldiers, and 35 others wounded.
Despite air power provided by the US-led coalition and artillery support from a nearby US Marines base, the Iraqi army’s advance in Makhmour has been slow, a fact admitted by even Iraq’s defense minister.
Another Kurdish commander in the Iraqi army said that the difficulties faced in the offensive on al-Nasr were the same as those encountered in the recapture of another newly-liberated village in Makhmour, Kharabardan.
“We were defeated by Daesh on the first day of the operation there, because they had a huge number of suicide attackers, and also because our soldiers are very young and lack war experience,” the commander said, speaking to Rudaw English on condition of anonymity.
“It was on the second day that we finally were able to capture the village,” he said, adding that lack of war experience is the main issue among Iraqi soldiers.
“Hundreds of young Iraqi soldiers want to quit the army after their fellow soldiers – their friends – were killed before their eyes in the battle field,” the commander revealed.
The Makhmour front has been defended by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which remain on the front to defend their own lines and provide support to the Iraqis if needed.
An Iraqi commander told Rudaw English that the army forces, fighting together with a Sunni militia, are ready for another big push to retake the village, after being beaten back the previous night.
“There is a huge force deployed close to the village,” said Blind Hatim, a Kurdish commander in the Iraqi army who said his forces had captured about half the village in fighting Monday, but retreated in the evening under orders by higher officers.
He said new reinforcements had arrived for Tuesday’s offensive. The army has been fighting ISIS on the Makhmour front, south of Erbil, since March 24. The offensive is a prelude for the fight to recapture Mosul, the ISIS stronghold in Iraq since the group seized the city in June 2014.
“Brigade 91 and infantry troops from the Mosul operation have joined us since last night,” Hatim explained.
He said that snipers, suicide bombers and mortar fire from the village were some of the hazards faced by his soldiers.
Hakim, who has been involved in the fighting for al-Nasr, confirmed there had been Iraqi army casualties, but declined to say how many.
Reporters on the scene said Monday they had seen some two dozen dead Iraqi soldiers, and 35 others wounded.
Despite air power provided by the US-led coalition and artillery support from a nearby US Marines base, the Iraqi army’s advance in Makhmour has been slow, a fact admitted by even Iraq’s defense minister.
Another Kurdish commander in the Iraqi army said that the difficulties faced in the offensive on al-Nasr were the same as those encountered in the recapture of another newly-liberated village in Makhmour, Kharabardan.
“We were defeated by Daesh on the first day of the operation there, because they had a huge number of suicide attackers, and also because our soldiers are very young and lack war experience,” the commander said, speaking to Rudaw English on condition of anonymity.
“It was on the second day that we finally were able to capture the village,” he said, adding that lack of war experience is the main issue among Iraqi soldiers.
“Hundreds of young Iraqi soldiers want to quit the army after their fellow soldiers – their friends – were killed before their eyes in the battle field,” the commander revealed.
The Makhmour front has been defended by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which remain on the front to defend their own lines and provide support to the Iraqis if needed.
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