After three previous failed attempts in the last two months the Iraqi army launched an offensive on Tuesday to capture the village of al-Nasr from the Islamic State (ISIS) on the Makhmour front, which an officer believes could be slowed down by sectarian tension among soldiers. “Today we are finally moving forward against the Daesh (ISIS) militants in the village of al-Nasr,” Shkak Omar, a Kurdish officer in the Iraqi army told Rudaw. “We have already seized some of Daesh’s heavy weapons.” ISIS militants posed a serious threat to the Iraqi troops based half a kilometer away and its militants harassed the soldiers with daily mortar and sniper fire. According to Omar there hasn’t been sufficient coalition air support which might put the lives of the soldiers at risk upon entering the village. “Since the early morning we have only heard and seen coalition airstrikes inside the village twice, which is not enough,” Omar reported, adding that the ground troops are ready to move forward despite the hazards. Iraqi troops launched three operations to unseat ISIS from the village since April but failed to reach the target due to disorganization in the force that comprises of Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia and Shiite soldiers. According to Bashdar Aziz, an officer in the Iraqi army based on the front, “the Shiite soldiers wave flags with images of imam Hussein, and this deflates the morale of the Sunni militia.” “I believe this tension is also the reason why there is not enough cooperation. It seems like everyone is just fighting for his own people: Sunnis for Sunnis and Shiites for Shiites.” Aziz said. The army says the village of al-Nasr has strategic significance as it could become a launch pad for part of the future offensive against Mosul. Aziz predicted that the fight for al-Nasr is going to be tough because it is a “big village and which makes the operation difficult. Besides the coalition airstrikes are not as many as they should be.”
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