ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – As Iraqi forces are getting bogged down in street fighting with ISIS in Mosul, they are receiving increased support from their American allies who are embedding more extensively with the local forces.
“We are deepening our integration with them,” Colonel Brett G. Sylvia of the US army told Reuters. "We are now pushing that into more of the Iraqi formations pushing forward, some formations that we haven't partnered with in the past where we are now partnering with them."
He declined to confirm whether or not US forces were operating inside Mosul but said “we have never been embedded to this degree.”
The US has more than 5,000 troops in Iraq as part of the global coalition forces advising and assisting the Iraqi and Kurdish armies in the war against ISIS, which is now focused on retaking the city of Mosul that fell to ISIS in June 2014.
The operation to retake Mosul, which began on October 17, made fast progress on the outskirts of the city but Iraq’s elite Golden Division, the primary force on the ground inside the city, has faced stiff resistance from ISIS on Mosul’s streets and has suffered increasing numbers of casualties.
“There are no wars without casualties. The operation to liberate Mosul will surely cost lives,” Maj. Gen. Maan Zaid, a key commander with the Golden Division, told Rudaw.
“ISIS is using powerful weapons in this war. But our casualties are less than reported,” Zaid added.
Iraqi forces have liberated some 40 neighborhoods in the city’s east and in recent days have been focused on clearing the liberated areas. It is expected that they will soon launch a new phase in the offensive to complete the liberation of the eastern half of the city.
“The operations seem to be going rather slowly,” said Nechirvan Barzani, Kurdish Prime Minister in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor published Friday. “There are two reasons for this. There is a concerted effort to avoid collateral damage, to avoid harming civilians during the course of the operations. The second reason is that Daesh is putting up stiff resistance.”
While tens of thousands of civilians have fled Mosul and its surrounding areas, many of the estimated 1.5 million population have remained in their homes.
Human Rights Watch said in a report last week that ISIS has indiscriminately targeted civilians fleeing Mosul, using them as human shields.
“It’s hard to call in airstrikes,” said Barzani. “It’s a matter of survival for Daesh, and they will resist fiercely.”
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