Mosul offensive: Iraqi Kurdish forces besiege key town of Bashiqa

[nicoleivy5]

Iraqi Kurdish forces besiege the key town of Bashiqa - full story

"Kurdish forces taking part in the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State militants are besieging a key town to the north-east.

Peshmerga fighters have surrounded Bashiqa, which lies on a crucial supply route 12km (8 miles) from Mosul, and are preparing to launch a full assault.
But the threat of suicide bomb attacks means they are advancing with caution."

 

[nicoleivy5]

Iraqi Kurdish forces besiege the key town of Bashiqa - full story

"Kurdish forces taking part in the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State militants are besieging a key town to the north-east.

Peshmerga fighters have surrounded Bashiqa, which lies on a crucial supply route 12km (8 miles) from Mosul, and are preparing to launch a full assault.
But the threat of suicide bomb attacks means they are advancing with caution."

real talk

 

[Moonglow]

Iraqi Kurdish forces besiege the key town of Bashiqa - full story

"Kurdish forces taking part in the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State militants are besieging a key town to the north-east.

Peshmerga fighters have surrounded Bashiqa, which lies on a crucial supply route 12km (8 miles) from Mosul, and are preparing to launch a full assault.
But the threat of suicide bomb attacks means they are advancing with caution."

Smart artillery suicide attacks or just a plain old fashioned suicide attack?

 

[nicoleivy5]

Iraqi Kurdish forces besiege the key town of Bashiqa - full story

"Kurdish forces taking part in the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State militants are besieging a key town to the north-east.

Peshmerga fighters have surrounded Bashiqa, which lies on a crucial supply route 12km (8 miles) from Mosul, and are preparing to launch a full assault.
But the threat of suicide bomb attacks means they are advancing with caution."

agreed

 

[waltky]

Kurds take ISIS town outside Mosul...

Kurdish Peshmerga take full control of Bashiqa, Iraq, from Islamic State
Nov. 7, 2016 -- Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq on Monday said the town of Bashiqa, near Mosul, is under its full control after battle against the Islamic State.

Bashiqa is about 8 miles northeast of Mosul in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Rudaw reported Bashiqa was freed from Islamic State control soon after municipal government and Kurdistan Democratic Party branch buildings were freed.

The offensive was being helped by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, which played an important role in Bashiqa, Kurdish Peshmerga Cmdr. Kaka Hama said. Kurdish officials said there were dozens of IS militants inside Bashiqa. Several Islamic State suicide attacks -- mainly car bombings -- were repelled by the Kurdish soldiers.

There were an estimated 5,000 IS militants in Mosul prior to the start of Iraq's offensive to recapture the city on Oct. 17. Mosul is considered one of the most important battles in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq, as it is considered the militant Islamist group's last major stronghold in the country.

Kurdish Peshmerga take full control of Bashiqa, Iraq, from Islamic State

See also:

U.S.-backed forces move closer to taking Raqqa from Islamic State
Nov. 6, 2016 -- U.S.-backed forces in Syria are warning civilians to steer clear as they begin work to capture Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital.

The Kurdish and Arab force will be aided by U.S.-led coalition air strikes. The Syria Democratic Forces warned civilians to stay out of the area where IS militants are present, BBC reported. The SDF, which has been gaining ground in the areas north of Raqqa, announced the operation Sunday at a press conference in Ain Issa, about 30 miles from the city.

A Washington official confirmed the start of the operation and said forces will first attempt "to isolate Raqqa, to set the stage for an eventual assault on the city itself to liberate it." "The major battle to liberate Raqqa and its surroundings has begun," an SDF spokesperson said. That spokesperson said heavy resistance is expected. "IS will defend its bastion, knowing that the loss of Raqqa will mean it is finished in Syria."

In a statement, SDF said it has established a join operations center for the military campaign known as "Euphrates Rage," which includes multiple militia groups of Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen, CNN reported.. "We are starting an operation to liberate Raqqa from ISIS... the operation will be done with American aerial cover," Brig. Gen. Talal Ali Selo, said Sunday. "[The operation] will start by taking Raqqa countryside and then the goal is the city."

U.S.-backed forces move closer to taking Raqqa from Islamic State

 

[waltky]

Iraqi experts look into mass grave found near Mosul...

Iraqi experts probe mass grave site found near IS-held Mosul
Nov 8,`16 -- Iraqi investigators were probing a mass grave on Tuesday that was discovered the previous day by Iraqi troops advancing further into Islamic State-held territory near the city of Mosul.

The chilling find was the latest instance of mass graves being uncovered in territory wrested from IS militants. In Iraq and Syria so far, the group has killed thousands of people in summary executions and extrajudicial killings, the graves a dark testimony to its brutality. Associated Press footage from the site shows bones and decomposed bodies among scraps of clothing and plastic bags dug out of the ground by a bulldozer after Iraqi troops noticed the strong smell while advancing into the town of Hamam al-Alil on Monday. "Investigators flew in this morning and are on their way to the grave to conduct examinations and determine the cause of death," said Cabinet official Haider Majeed, in charge of mass grave investigations.

The first officials at the site said the grave, behind an earthen embankment near an agricultural college, likely holds about 100 bodies, many of them decapitated. The town lies some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Mosul. It was unclear who the victims were, but a soldier at the site pulled a child's stuffed animal from the scraps of clothing and rotting flesh, swarming with flies. IS militants have carried out a series of massacres since seizing large swaths of southern and central Iraq in the summer of 2014, often documenting them with photos and videos circulated online.

An Iraqi federal police officer holds a stuffed toy at the site of a mass grave in Hamam al-Alil, Iraq. Investigators are probing the mass grave that was discovered the previous day by troops advancing further into Islamic State-held territory near the city of Mosul. Associated Press footage from the site shows bones and decomposed bodies among scraps of clothing and plastic bags dug out of the ground by a bulldozer after Iraqi troops noticed the strong smell while advancing into the town of Hamam al-Alil.​

The campaign to drive them from Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the extremists' last major urban stronghold in the country, began on Oct. 17. Iraqi troops and the Kurdish peshmerga forces are now converging on Mosul, although the deepest advance into an eastern sliver of the city has stalled after militants counterattacked advancing special forces from within built-up, populated areas.

To the northeast, some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the city, the peshmerga forces continued their push on the town of Bashiqa, believed to be largely deserted except for dozens of IS fighters. Mortar fire, automatic weapons, and explosions rang out through the morning, as a thick plume of smoke hung over parts of the city, obscuring the view of aircraft.

News from The Associated Press

 

[Bleipriester]

Well, I see the monkey got his shaving...