Iraqi forces have entered ISIS-held Mosul for the first time in more than two years, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said, in an operation to free the key city from the militant group’s control.
Iraqi Ministry of Defense spokesman Brig. Gen. Tahsin Ibrahim told CNN that units of the 9th Armored Division had entered the city, adding that troops had stormed the neighborhood of al Intisar in the east.
Penetrating the eastern border on Thursday has been the most significant breakthrough in the offensive, launched more than two weeks ago. Officials have warned that entering Mosul will likely trigger the fiercest fighting seen yet, and that the battle is expected to be fought “street to street,” or even “house to house.”
Around 100,000 forces in an Iraqi-led coalition have taken part in a decisive push toward Mosul, freeing communities from ISIS control village by village along the way.
But only Iraqi forces are entering Mosul, commanders say, a testament to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s claims that the battle for Mosul is at its core an Iraqi fight, and that sectarian politics must be kept from the key battle.
Counter-terrorism forces have been on the city’s eastern outskirts since Monday but have struggled to push through ISIS snipers, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide attacks and even boulders placed on the main road to the city to slow forces’ progress.
As forces broke through the city’s border, the Iraqi Army opened up a safe route out for civilians to evacuate from the frontline in al Intisar, Ibrahim told CNN.
Forces made their push into Mosul after ISIS’ media arm released audio purportedly featuring the terror group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, attempting to rally fighters.
Addressing the estimated 5,000 ISIS members holed up in the city, al-Baghdadi said that “holding your ground in honor is a thousand times better than retreating in disgrace.”
Coalition airstrikes meanwhile pounded Mosul and hit an ISIS convoy, some of them carrying senior ISIS members, as it crossed the al Khames bridge in the city center, witnesses inside Mosul told CNN. ISIS shut the damaged bridge down after the strike.
From the west, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) — a largely Shia paramilitary force assigned the task of advancing west of Mosul — said they had cut off the main access road used by ISIS to flee to Syria through western Iraq.
Witnesses inside Mosul have told CNN over the past month that ISIS fighters and their relatives have been seen on buses heading out of Mosul, presumably to the group’s Syrian city of Raqqa.
Developing story – more to come