Iraqi forces have retaken two Christian towns after more than two years of brutal rule by ISIS militants, military officials say — part of an ongoing operation to liberate the key city of Mosul.
A multi-ethnic and multi-religious coalition of more than around 100,000 people have been in a decisive push toward Mosul since Monday, sweeping clear swathes of Nineveh province from ISIS militants.
The province is the center of Iraq’s diversity, home to Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, Turkmen, Sunnis and Shias alike.
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US Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Erbil and met with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani
Peshmerga forces launched a major attack on ISIS positions from Mosul’s northeast Sunday, the Peshmerga’s general command said
The attack focused on the town of Bashiqa, some 7 miles (12 kilometers) east of the city
A CNN team saw thick smoke and dust rising from the town as it was repeatedly hit by mortar and artillery fire
The team also witnessed an attack helicopter firing missiles into the area
Days of resistance
Lt. Gen. Riyad Jalal, commander of the Iraqi ground forces, told state-run al-Iraqiya TV that the town of Hamdaniya, also known as Qaraqosh, had been freed and that authorities were now in the process of bringing back local officials to reopen the main public buildings and plan the repair of infrastructure.
Iraqi forces and a Christian paramilitary group entered the town on Wednesday and faced fierce resistance from ISIS fighters for several days. Forces had pushed the militants into the town center, where they were pounded by coalition air strikes supporting the assault.
Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Maliki, commander of the Iraqi 9th armored division, said at least 50 ISIS militants were killed and many of their equipment destroyed in the assault. His forces now are cleansing the city from IEDs and sweeping buildings in case of any ISIS militant might be hiding in the town, he said.
A community of Christians who fled Hamdaniya and found refuge in Erbil celebrated Tuesday night as they heard coalition forces were on their way to free their hometown.
Church bells ring
A few kilometers to the south on Saturday, church bells rang out for the first time since ISIS seized the town more than two years ago, local networks reported, showing images of an Iraqi soldier ringing the bells in a symbolic declaration the town had been freed.
Iraq officials claimed that some 200 ISIS fighters had been killed in the assault.
The liberation of the Christian towns brings coalition forces closer to Mosul and so far the coalition has made sweeping gains around the city. But fighting is expected to intensify nearer Mosul, several officials have said.
In a savage show of force, ISIS militants rounded up and shot dead 284 men and boys as the coalition tightened the noose around Mosul, an Iraqi intelligence source told CNN.
Those killed on Thursday and Friday this week were used as human shields against attacks forcing ISIS out of southern parts of Mosul, the source said, adding that the militant group had dumped the bodies in a mass grave at the defunct College of Agriculture in northern Mosul.
The source asked for anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. CNN could not independently confirm the killings.
Forces behind the assault on Hamdaniya faced similar problems, with reports that ISIS has brought civilians into the abandoned town and placed them in key buildings to deter airstrikes.
Key battle
US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter arrived in Erbil on Sunday at met with Kurdistan Regional Government’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.
“I’m here to commend you and your forces. I’m encouraged by what I see,” he said.
The battle for Mosul is seen as one of the most significant in the regional and global fight against ISIS, as it is seen as the cultural capital of the militant group’s envisaged caliphate, or so-called Islamic State, and is near oilfields that ISIS has used to sell oil illegally and swell its coffers.
The coalition’s members vastly outnumber their opponent’s. Up to 5,000 ISIS fighters are in Mosul, a US military official said. The terror group’s supporters put the number at 7,000.
A unit of what appeared to be US special forces advisers entered ISIS territory with the very first armored convoy of Peshmerga on Monday, a CNN team observed. It followed a dozens-strong unit of Kurdish armor that was bound towards ISIS positions, placing American forces right at the front of the opening moments of the fight to retake Mosul.
