MOSUL, Iraq–A commander of the Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) claims that they have been able to control the ISIS drone system in the western half of Mosul through the use of parasite machines.
ISIS militants have armed commercial drones with hand grenades and used them against advancing Iraqi troops since the second phase of the Mosul offensive that began in late December to retake the city from the radical group.
In early January Rudaw reported a case of ISIS drones harassing Iraqi forces in eastern Mosul, dropping hand grenades and other explosives as they made their way into the group’s territories which succeeded in slowing down their advance.
“That issue has been resolved completely,” Lieutenant-General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, an ICTS commander told Rudaw TV on Tuesday as he was asked about the challenge of facing the ISIS drones in the sky of Mosul.
“They [ISIS] used it on the first day against the Counter Terrorism Service which recorded 72 sorties from them. On the second day, we recorded 52 sorties. Then we used some machines, [interference] parasite machines, it became 8, and five days before now, and until today, not even a single flight.”
Earlier, Major General Najim al-Jabbouri told Rudaw that the US forces brought a special interference machine to the western Mosul to paralyze the ISIS drones.
"The Americans have brought in a very advanced machine to the right bank of Mosul," Jabouri said, "It is like a big vehicle. ISIS can no longer send even one drone into the sky."
Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesperson for the US-led anti-ISIS global coalition, described the anti-drone measures as "jammers."
He told Rudaw on Tuesday that ISIS is not able to stop the advance of the Iraqi forces, but the only capability ISIS has is the use of drones, a practice that is in decline, he said.
"...the Iraqi security forces are moving very rapidly right now. The enemy is not able to stop their advances,” Colonel Dorrian said. “The only thing the enemy has still been effective in doing is using drones, and even this capability has been declining.”
This comes as the ICTS commander said that Iraqi forces have achieved more than 60 percent of the military objectives in the western half of Mosul, as they breached "strong defense lines" of ISIS south of the city.
"The number of places liberated are not important, as is the importance of the places," Assadi said. “The places that have been liberated [in western Mosul] are strong defense lines of ISIS which fell two days ago."
"Our forces were then able to push deep [into western Mosul]; meaning that if you give a percentage of importance, I can say more than 60 percent have been achieved in the liberation of the right bank of Mosul," Assadi said, in reference to the right bank of the Tigris river that bisects the city.
The ICTS spearheaded the offensive on the eastern half of Mosul, which was retaken by Iraqi forces in late January after 100 days of fighting, and in which at least 500 soldiers lost their lives.
VIDEO: Moment when Iraqi forces came under attack by the armed drones of ISIS in the eastern half of Mosul in early January.
