Iraq News
Terrorism

ISIL ranks depleted ahead of battle for west Mosul

By Khalid al-Taie

Iraqi forces take control of east Mosul after liberating the last of its neighbourhoods from the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' on January 24th. [Photo courtesy of the Counter-Terrorism Service]

Iraqi forces take control of east Mosul after liberating the last of its neighbourhoods from the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' on January 24th. [Photo courtesy of the Counter-Terrorism Service]

The "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) is facing a precarious situation in the run up to the battle for west Mosul because of the huge losses it has suffered since operations to liberate the city began, officials and local sources tell Diyaruna.

At least 3,300 ISIL fighters were killed at the hands of Iraqi forces and the international coalition since October 17th, Staff Gen. Talib al-Sheghati, who heads the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), said at a press conference in mid-January.

Now that the eastern side of Mosul has been fully liberated, ISIL fighters who are still holed up in the western half of the city are taking desperate measures to beef up their ranks, said Abu Mohamed al-Mosuli, a spokesman for the Mosul Knights Brigades, a grassroots anti-ISIL armed group inside Mosul.

The loss in life that ISIL has suffered has compelled its fighters in west Mosul to force residents to fight alongside the group, but "even then, they are facing great difficulties in recruiting [residents]", he told Diyaruna.

"The group's resources, especially its human resources, are dramatically drained," he said. "Its best elements, who are elite foreign fighters, were killed in the battles of [eastern] Mosul", which was fully liberated on January 24th .

Al-Mosuli estimates that there are no more than 2,500 ISIL fighters left in Mosul, a small portion of whom are foreigners "and the rest are Iraqis", he said.

"To compensate for this shortage, ISIL has been forcing men in west Mosul neighbourhoods to enroll within its ranks by threatening to kill them or capture their family members and hold them hostage," he added.

Threats fall on deaf ears

Despite those threats, which ISIL advertises through mosque loudspeakers, the group is facing great difficulties recruiting residents, as only a few were intimidated and have joined the group, al-Mosuli said.

"The victories of Iraqi forces in eastern Mosul and the joy it has brought the residents of those areas, encouraged residents of the still occupied neighbourhoods to defy ISIL," he said.

Over the past two years, the Mosul Brigades have resisted ISIL and carried out several attacks that toppled several ISIL leaders and uncovered a number of the group's hideouts.

"The last such attack took place on January 10th, when a force from the Brigades attacked a secret ISIL detention centre in al-Shaareen market area in western Mosul and liberated 35 citizens who were being held by ISIL on various charges, including co-operating with the security forces," he said.

The attack resulted in "the deaths of seven of the detention centre guards, of whom six were Iraqis and one was Egyptian", al-Mosuli said.

The majority of ISIL's leaders and foreign fighters were killed during the east Mosul clashes or in Iraqi air force and coalition airstrikes, said media officer of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Mosul Said Mamuzini.

Among those is senior leader Abu Omar al-Hollandi, who was killed in clashes with Iraqi forces in al-Mohandiseen neighbourhood, east Mosul, on January 13th, he said.

Al-Hollandi was in charge of European suicide bombers for ISIL.

The group has threatened to kill all those who refuse to join its ranks, Mamuzini said, noting that ISIL fighters have carried out their threats against a number of citizens.

On January 19th, ISIL "executed 17 civilians in western Mosul who refused to join them, according to witnesses and local residents", he told Diyaruna.

Nevertheless, the residents of western Mosul will stand up to ISIL and reject all their threats, Banyan al-Jarba, member of the Ninawa provincial council security committee, told Diyaruna.

"Just like the people of eastern Mosul proved their courage and their rejection of terrorism when they supported the liberating forces with intelligence [...], so will the residents of western Mosul do," he said.

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