Civilians shelter in place under heavy clashes in Mosul’s northeast

 
MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi special forces continued on Tuesday to confront ISIS militants in Mosul’s northeast neighborhood of Barid where civilians are trapped, unable to flee to safety.

Heavy clashes have erupted on the main road connecting Barid and Masarif neighbourhoods, reported Rudaw’s Bahruz Faraidun who is embedded with Iraqi counter-terror forces in Barid. The forces are using surveillance drones to gather precise location information of the militants to facilitate airstrikes. 

Iraqi forces are optimistic they will defeat ISIS in Barid on Tuesday after first entering the neighbourhood on Monday. 

“We are going to control Barid neighborhood by the end of the day,” Brigadier General Abdulwahab Saadi, commander in the Iraqi counter-terror forces told Rudaw, saying that their forces have been making good progress.

Iraqi forces face tough counterattacks by ISIS militants as they push deeper into Mosul.

Unlike other neighborhoods where residents were fleeing in large numbers, residents of Barid were staying in place, taking shelters in large groups in houses deemed to be in safer locations.

In one house, about 70 people had sheltered together. 

In the drone footage of the neighbourhood, ISIS vehicles could be seen moving about but no civilians were visible. 

Meanwhile, Rudaw cameras filmed thick smoke rising from Samah district in eastern Mosul where Rudaw’s Nabard Hussein reported gunfire but no heavy clashes. 

Hundreds of civilians fled Samah outskirts as Iraqi forces claimed to have taken control of the district. 

Tuesday marks the 51st day of the Mosul offensive.