Two civilians are dead and at least seven are wounded — including children — after an ISIS attack on a Mosul neighborhood previously declared “liberated” from the militants, Iraqi army officials told CNN on Wednesday.
The officials said at least four mortars landed in the eastern Mosul neighborhood of al Zahraa, which was declared under the full control of Iraqi security forces nearly a week ago.
Witnesses also told CNN there had been civilian deaths and injuries from the attacks.
Video of the aftermath broadcast by local Kurdish TV station Rudaw showed several of the injured, including children with bloody wounds.
The Iraq Joint Military Operations Command declared six days ago that its security forces had taken full control of al Zahraa as well as two other eastern neighborhoods — al Samah and al Malayeen.
Attacks by ISIS in areas previously cleared by Iraqi forces are frequent.
Fierce resistance
Iraqi forces have encountered fierce resistance as they battle their way into Mosul, the terror group’s last major stronghold in Iraq.
While the ISIS presence has started to wane in parts of the northern city, a number of residents told CNN they are disappointed with the pace of Mosul’s liberation.
They said people are increasingly fearful because of what they see as slow advances by Iraqi forces.
ISIS has fortified its positions and regrouped after the Iraqi forces’ initial push on Mosul, which was faster than current progress, residents said.
ISIS emboldened by leader’s message?
Brig. Gen. Halgurd Hikmet, a spokesman for the Peshmerga, or Kurdish forces, told CNN on Wednesday that “for ISIS, Mosul is survival.”
Hikmet said he believes ISIS militants won’t leave Mosul but will continue to put up a fight that will only grow fiercer as the battle moves to the city’s west.
He pointed to the audio message purportedly from ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released in early November, which seems to have emboldened and inspired ISIS fighters.
Hikmet also reiterated the difficulty posed for Iraqi-led forces by the potential for civilian casualties among the dense urban population, saying the utmost care was being taken not to bomb civilians.
The terror group’s use of civilians as “human shields” is also a challenge because it’s often hard to differentiate between them and ISIS members, Hikmet said, particularly at night.
As the battle grinds on, Iraq’s paramilitary forces have been fighting ISIS militias in areas west of the city as they seek to pave the way for Iraqi troops to enter Tal Afar, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Mosul.
Iraqi paramilitary forces — known as the Popular Mobilization Units — are closing on a strategic airbase outside Tal Afar from three fronts, according to a statement Wednesday from the Shiite-led PMU.
Militia forces have killed several ISIS fighters in heavy clashes along the way and destroyed seven car bombs, it said.
The PMU intend to use the airbase as a launching point for operations to take Tal Afar from ISIS. It is a predominantly Sunni city that used to be divided between Sunni and Shia Turkmen before ISIS captured it in 2014.
The PMU said Tuesday they have intelligence information that al-Baghdadi is somewhere between al Baaj and Tal Afar in northern Iraq. The two cities are about 50 miles (80 kilometers) apart and close to the border with Syria.
Iraqi Ministry of Defense spokesman Brig. Gen. Tahsin Ibrahim would not confirm or deny that al-Baghdadi is in the area.
US-led coalition
Meanwhile, a military official said Tuesday that the US-led coalition against ISIS had pounded targets linked to the extremist group relentlessly since the Iraqi-led offensive to recapture the country’s second-largest city began on October 17.
In four weeks, coalition forces have hammered ISIS targets with 4,000 bombs, artillery strikes and missiles, coalition spokesman Col. John C. Dorian said. They also have killed hundreds of fighters in the battle to retake Mosul, he said.
Nearly 60 vehicles equipped with bombs and more than 80 tunnels have been destroyed, Dorian said at a news conference in Qayyara.
Aid groups stretched thin
The Mosul offensive has exacerbated widespread displacement of residents in northern Iraq and placed heavy demands on humanitarian groups working to provide aid for civilians fleeing the war, Refugees International said in a report Tuesday.
Since ISIS began seizing territory across Iraq in 2014, 3.3 million civilians have been displaced. The Mosul battle is spurring more civilian flight, the group says. The International Organization for Migration says more than 56,000 people have been displaced since the start of the offensive.
“As the government of Iraq moves to reclaim Mosul from ISIS, civilians from the areas around Mosul — known as the Mosul corridor — have already been on the move,” said Daryl Grisgraber, a senior advocate for Refugees International. About 100,000 have left the region since fighting started.