Iraqi Special Operations Forces bogged down in heavy fighting during push into Mosul's urban terrain
29 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Mosul, Iraq (CNN)
For more than 28 hours, CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon and photojournalist Brice Laine were with Iraqi special forces during their push into ISIS-held Mosul. It was a new phase of the liberation operation -- switching from villages and open terrain to a dense city that a well-equipped ISIS is determined to defend.
Their convoy was leading the attack Friday when it came under attack multiple times.
Vehicles were destroyed, soldiers were hurt. Troops and journalists sought shelter in a succession of houses, calling for backup again and again.
Inside the armored vehicles, hiding with families in houses, Arwa Damon kept notes amid the heat of the battle. Here is her account, with occasional strong language. It has been lightly edited for clarity.
...
12:40 p.m.
Our communications are down.
"We are in a bad place," the driver says.
That is not what anyone wants to hear.
Something just went off in front of us.
Now we can hear the hiss of incoming fire.
12:45 p.m.
Radio communications are back up.
"There are no aircraft. We are under heavy fire," the captain says into the radio. "Mortars, grenades, suicide bomber."
Our tire is shot out ... we hear the hiss of the air going out.
We are trapped. All we can do is watch the street corners for car bombs. Wait for rockets, mortars, missiles.
12:56 p.m.
They need to evacuate the wounded but they can't.
Radio calls are getting a bit frantic.
The battalion commander may have been wounded.
1:12 p.m.
The Humvee a couple of vehicles down is on fire. The blaze is massive. There are small explosions coming from it.
We don't know what caused the explosions. We're told that the soldiers inside managed to get out of it before it exploded.
Two Humvees are moving up.
1:21 p.m.
A commander is on the radio, trying to bolster morale. "You liberated all of Iraq. A burning Humvee -- this should drive you forward. You are special forces. You are the heroes of Iraq. You freed all of Iraq. The entire world is watching you."
1:41 p.m.
A motorcycle just came at the convoy. Soldiers fired. Brice sees it happening, the driver, in his mid-40s, long beard and traditional "Afghan" clothing, jumps from his moving bike and runs away. His bike is now lying on its side. The soldiers fear it is loaded with explosives, but it does not blow up.
1:55 p.m.
Holy shit. That is the craziest crap I have seen. A white car just went flying down the side street in front of us. Right between the battalion. Then a rocket-propelled grenade came flying in.
They keep calling for air power.
This fight is nothing like that of the outskirts. This is in the side streets against an enemy that knows them and rules the rooftops. The rooftops of homes that have civilians inside.
"There is heavy incoming, heavy incoming," the captain calls on the radio. "We need air power now! We are getting hit from all sides."
2:13 p.m.
We just took a direct hit. I don't know what it was.
My ears are ringing. Brice has a small wound on the side of his head.
The captain has a head wound. One of the guys is hit in his shoulder.
I have blood on me but it's not mine.
3:06 p.m.
We are in a civilian house, crowded into a room with the family that lives here.
The mother and five children are all huddled into a corner, almost as if they are trying to make themselves as small as possible.
The guys we are with are here too. They don't have vehicles to evacuate -- all their vehicles were ruined, there are only three left that are mobile.
3:10 p.m.
That was an airstrike, or so they said.
There are two families here -- two neighbors. The women and six kids are all crammed behind the dresser.
3:45 p.m.
The family we are with made fried eggs and bread for everyone. Even in the worst of times people who have nothing will give everything. The jets are buzzing overhead now.
3:51 p.m.
Radio call: "The jets are overhead. It's almost over. They are almost finished in your area."
Crazy outgoing fire again. I think backup may have finally arrived.
4:05 p.m.
"Is that my vehicle on fire?" a soldier walks in and asks.
There is gunfire everywhere again. One of the soldiers says ISIS is filming the burning vehicles. "How do you know?" I ask. There is a tall building, I am sure they are. They did this before, he says.
They started to move the wounded, but there is too much incoming fire.
"Are you leaving with the wounded?" I'm asked.
"Yes please."
Brice notes that it will be dark in an hour and a half. The blood has dried on his face.
4:12 p.m.
There is no back-up yet.
Time is going by very slowly. Explosions are shaking this house.
...
5:38 p.m.
We have been moved to another house, maybe 10 meters down the road. We had to jump into a Humvee. The guys are really looking out for us.
We are now with the wounded in what feels like the last house standing. The entire road outside is littered with the wreckage of the convoy. Broken down and burnt out vehicles. The gunfire is endless.
There is another family here in the room next door.
No one was under any illusion that the battle for Mosul was going to be easy or simple, but I think the ferocity of it is really driving home how tough this fight is going to be. Faces are somber.
The men around us are all moaning in pain.
[/QUOTE]
[URL]http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/05/middleeast/iraq-inside-mosul-battle/index.html[/URL]
A taste of what's to come as Iraqi forces push into the city itself. The fighting is nothing like what they've encountered on the outskirts surrounding the city. This unit was pinned down in a couple of houses for over a day before backup (who also got bogged down in fighting) arrived
It's fucking Fallujah all over again.
Dear god, please let this horror end soon.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;51316766]It's fucking Fallujah all over again.
Dear god, please let this horror end soon.[/QUOTE]
This is nothing, in Baiji refinery they had to fight hellspawn and demons with their bare fists
They mention in the article the soldiers knew ISIS was filming the knocked out vehicles and sure enough, they posted a video of their perspective online
[url]https://www.facebook.com/cagdasgundem10/videos/556571397862112/[/url]
Major Salam and a BBC Arabic crew also had a very close encounter with an ISIS VBIED
[video=youtube;Me8FwuVbpiY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me8FwuVbpiY[/video]
The joys of modern urban warfare. What a fucking nightmare. And its only ONE day.
West point is going to be dissecting this month for decades to xome. With so much info from all sides, this is going to be a goldmine for mout improval.
[QUOTE]4:05 p.m.
"Is that my vehicle on fire?" a soldier walks in and asks.[/QUOTE]
This summer, the fighting never ends in [I]Dude, Where's My Humvee?[/I] starring Ash'tn Kutjer. Coming soon to theatres and liveleak
Lt. Ahmed seems like a pretty good guy. Despite being shot in the leg, he was still limping around helping the wounded and fighting back while maintaining an air of confidence. You can see him in the CNN video with his pants leg cut off and thigh bandaged
Also, Aris Roussinos from VICE has been livetweeting the push into Mosul.
[media]https://twitter.com/arisroussinos/status/795043399183335424[/media]
[media]https://twitter.com/arisroussinos/status/795044250975137793[/media]
[media]https://twitter.com/arisroussinos/status/795045281524056064[/media]
I don't know how this guy can stay so composed in such a hellhole
[media]https://twitter.com/arisroussinos/status/795056854984429569[/media]
[media]https://twitter.com/arisroussinos/status/795058197870551040[/media]
I believe he's embedded with the Peshmerga
[video=youtube;OLVoEy-cDgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLVoEy-cDgU[/video]
The real battle is only starting now.
ISIS never stood a chance on open ground, hence why ISF and Peshmerga had relativity quickly reached Mosul. But inside Mosul, it will be hell on earth for everyone.
[QUOTE=StrykerE;51316911]I believe he's embedded with the Peshmerga
[video=youtube;OLVoEy-cDgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLVoEy-cDgU[/video][/QUOTE]
AFAIK the Peshmerga aren't entering Mosul itself so he's probably with the ISF now.
[QUOTE=StrykerE;51316911]I believe he's embedded with the Peshmerga
[video=youtube;OLVoEy-cDgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLVoEy-cDgU[/video][/QUOTE]
I believe he's got titanium balls.
It's Berlin circa 1945 all over again.
Fanatics trying to kill as many of the enemy before they are eventually killed.
[QUOTE=Cutthecrap;51316796]The joys of modern urban warfare. What a fucking nightmare. And its only ONE day.
West point is going to be dissecting this month for decades to xome. With so much info from all sides, this is going to be a goldmine for mout improval.[/QUOTE]
What does this mean, what is mout?
Do you mean WP is already capitalising on this for better training?
[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51317831]What does this mean, what is mout?[/QUOTE]
Military Operations on Urban Terrain
[QUOTE=adamsz;51317380]It's Berlin circa 1945 all over again.
Fanatics trying to kill as many of the enemy before they are eventually killed.[/QUOTE]
Bit different, the attacking troops are by far not as organised or equipped overwhelmingly as the allies were during the second ww, an ISIS victory is slim but still possible if they can break morale and force a retreat clusterfuck.
My sources say the iraqi army is rushing this, that could bite them in the ass.
ISIS is not dead yet as the german army was dead and broken during the allied invasion.
Point is, war in urban environments is always hell. Multitudes of vantage points for snipers and anti-tank weapons, limited mobility for armored vehicles, close-quarters combat, more possibility of booby-traps and mines.
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;51318454]Point is, war in urban environments is always hell. Multitudes of vantage points for snipers and anti-tank weapons, limited mobility for armored vehicles, close-quarters combat, more possibility of booby-traps and mines.[/QUOTE]
The only fortunate part is, it restricts vehicles of ISIS and gives the Iraqi forces plenty of sniper and anti-tank vantage points as well.
The IEDs however are entirely in the Islamic State's ball.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;51318686]The only fortunate part is, it restricts vehicles of ISIS and gives the Iraqi forces plenty of sniper and anti-tank vantage points as well.
The IEDs however are entirely in the Islamic State's ball.[/QUOTE]
That's if Iraqi forces can enter the city. Since ISIS has it fortified, they have the upper hand.
[url]http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/11/06/mosul-iraq-battle-inside-isis-offensive-damon-pkg.cnn/video/playlists/mosul/[/url]
Video from the cameraman is now up
[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51317872]Bit different, the attacking troops are by far not as organised or equipped overwhelmingly as the allies were during the second ww, an ISIS victory is slim but still possible if they can break morale and force a retreat clusterfuck.
My sources say the iraqi army is rushing this, that could bite them in the ass.
ISIS is not dead yet as the german army was dead and broken during the allied invasion.[/QUOTE]
The best comparison I'd make is Grozny.
[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;51321245]The best comparison I'd make is Grozny.[/QUOTE]
This is also my feeling.
[QUOTE=StrykerE;51316861]
Also, Aris Roussinos from VICE has been livetweeting the push into Mosul.[/QUOTE]
His twitter account doesn't exist now. Holy crap I hope he's ok
[QUOTE=Taepodong-2;51321245]The best comparison I'd make is Grozny.[/QUOTE]
Or you could compare it to Battle(s) of Fallujah since it's a little closer to home.
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;51322597]His twitter account doesn't exist now. Holy crap I hope he's ok[/QUOTE]
[url=https://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/comments/3h2mlu/anyone_know_what_happened_to_aris_roussinos/]Aris deactivates it now and then apparently.[/url]
[editline]7th November 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;51318454]Point is, war in urban environments is always hell. Multitudes of vantage points for snipers and anti-tank weapons, limited mobility for armored vehicles, close-quarters combat, more possibility of booby-traps and mines.[/QUOTE]
I know some people (left-leaning) who oppose the idea of conscription, and instead support a small professional army that would rely on guerilla and urban warfare.
It's like we can't even begin to understand the hellish conditions that urban warfare entails.
[QUOTE=StrykerE;51321196][url]http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/11/06/mosul-iraq-battle-inside-isis-offensive-damon-pkg.cnn/video/playlists/mosul/[/url]
Video from the cameraman is now up[/QUOTE]
Intense stuff. The reporter took the situation pretty well.
[QUOTE][B]Casualties mount as Iraqis press deeper into IS-held Mosul [/B]
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Zahida Fathi sat on a military-issued cot, rocking back and forth and repeating the names of the dead — her husband and six of her children, killed when a car bomb exploded near their home as they were trying to flee clashes between Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters in the city of Mosul.
"They all died, they all died," she said, her right hand and arm bandaged with a dressing. "They just kept burning in the flames. ... Muhammad, Ahmed, Neshwan, Majid, Ali, Raghat, their father."
Fathi, her daughter Dalal and son Mahmood were the only ones to survive the blast on Sunday. Dalal, nine years old, has burns all along her right side. Dressed in pink pajamas, her face was still covered in soot, strands of her hair singed from the blast.
She winced and nervously looked at the medics tending to her wounds, but barely spoke. Her brother, Mahmood, shivered, curled up on a cot beside her.
As Iraqi forces struggle to secure the gains they made over the past week on Mosul's eastern edge, the fight against IS has quickly morphed into close-quarters urban combat. With it, casualties among Iraq's troops and civilians are spiking.
On Friday, when Iraqi forces first pushed into Mosul proper, Derek Coleman, an American volunteer medic worked alongside Iraqi special forces at the field clinic.
That day, he said he helped treat 44 casualties before he lost count.
"I think the Iraqi (military) got an awakening when they pushed too far forward," Coleman said, flipping through a notebook he uses to keep records of his cases. In all, 12 soldiers died at the clinic on Friday, he said. "We had two Humvees just loaded with dead bodies."
Iraq's military does not release official death tolls.
...
Pete Reed, another American volunteer at the clinic said they expect high casualties.
"It's a huge urban environment," he said. "Imagine trying to go into Brooklyn or Charlotte, North Carolina, where you have huge buildings."
"Now imagine that from every door, window . that kind of gunfire can come out of it at any moment," he said as small arms fire echoed from the front line in the distance.
Car bombs are "ripping these things apart. Humvees aren't built ... (to withstand a car bomb). Nothing's built for a suicide vehicle," Reed said.
In late afternoon, a soldier was brought in with multiple gunshot wounds. Blood soaked through his T-shirt and began to pool underneath him. Medics tried to bandage the wounds. When his breathing stopped, Reed began to preform chest compressions.
The soldier's eye's glazed over.
A few minutes later, Reed called for a body bag and removed the IV from the man's arm. The commotion suddenly dissipated and the half dozen medics and soldiers gathered around stopped what they were doing.
"We don't have a name for him," said special forces Maj. Ahmed Hussein, using a black marker to write "Heroic martyr, Mosul division" on the body bag.
Hassan Aridah, a medic with the Iraqi special forces, said he has been working at field stations such as this Mosul front-line clinic for more than two years. "Sometimes I used to cry, but it's very normal now," he said.
After washing the blood from the dead soldier's cot, he walked up to his commanding officer.
"You shouldn't just leave the body here, other soldiers are passing this road," he said. "It's bad for morale."
[/QUOTE]
[URL]http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f9af3b07da29424e8fded83b38d6414e/casualties-mount-iraqis-press-deeper-held-mosul[/URL]
This is going to be a fucking hell hole in the following months.
[editline]8th November 2016[/editline]
In the CNN video a taxi driver got out of his taxi, trying to reach the troops. They shot and killed him because they thought he was a suicide bomber. Turns out he was not.
Seeing the squad sit inside the home of a family with the children screaming and crying was fucking heartbreaking, while the luitenant was stumbling around with one leg in bandages
[QUOTE][B]Iraq has never seen this kind of fighting in its battles with ISIS[/B]
[t]https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/11/11/Foreign/Images/APTOPIX_Mideast_Iraq_Mosul-4ad40.jpg?uuid=zpW_DqgfEeaPwHvo-EjEkg[/t]
MOSUL, Iraq — Since pushing into Mosul a week ago, Iraqi commanders say their forces have been shaken by some of the most complex fighting they have ever encountered in battles against the Islamic State.
It is a bitter fight: street to street, house to house, with the presence of civilians slowing the advancing forces. Car bombs — the militants’ main weapon — speed out of garages and straight into advancing military convoys.
“If there were no civilians, we’d just burn it all,” said Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridhi, a counterterrorism commander. He was forced to temporarily pause operations in his sector Monday because too many families were clogging the street. “I couldn’t bomb with artillery or tanks, or heavy weapons. I said, ‘We can’t do anything.’ ”
Militants wait to move between fighting positions until people fill the streets, using their presence as protection from airstrikes.
“They always keep them with them,” Aridhi said. Other officers said the militants occasionally let a flood of people flee as a method of forcing a pause in the fight.
At their base on the outskirts of the city, Iraqi counterterrorism troops call in airstrikes where they can, radioing to report militant positions and suicide bombers. Two French advisers sit nearby watching surveillance feeds of the city’s streets.
The voice of a field commander crackled through the radio. “These civilians are making me tired,” he said. “They are coming from everywhere. We don’t know if they are fighters or civilians. They are carrying bags — we don’t know what’s inside.”
Col. Arkan Fadhil calls in airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, but they are less forthcoming than in previous battles because of the presence of families, and are used only to defend Iraqi forces rather than backing them when they attack.
...
“They fired rockets from over there,” Ghalib al-Lahaibi said from the roof of his home in Mosul’s Samah neighborhood, pointing deeper inside the city. From there, the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions still rang out five days later, as the counterterrorism troops fought to expand their foothold.
Lahaibi’s family hid inside as groups of Islamic State militants passed by carrying rocket•propelled grenades. Stray bullets gouged holes in his living-room walls.
The house shook as a pickup truck full of explosives rammed into a convoy of Iraqi security forces nearby, scattering debris and body parts onto the street. Iraqi forces have little time to react, let alone call in airstrikes.
“You’ve got less than 10 meters to engage, so you shoot and cross your fingers,” said Fadhil, the colonel.
The Iraqi military does not release casualty numbers, but the losses in the Nov. 4 battle appear to have been particularly heavy.
“I’ve lost count,” Jorge Calzadilla, a volunteer with a Slovak medical organization, said about the number of military wounded. One night his group received nine dead soldiers at once. “It was just a truckload of mangled bodies,” he said.
...
Low-ranking officers in the field made some mistakes, he said, such as pushing forward without waiting for other units or without properly clearing and securing areas, later getting ambushed and becoming surrounded and trapped. Since the pitched battles of Nov. 4, the counterterrorism troops have adjusted their pace.
Aridhi said they have had to slow down as they wait for other fronts to advance on the city. Whether they can fight inside when they reach it also remains to be seen. In the battle for the city of Ramadi, the elite counterterrorism troops ended up leading the entire fight after police and army forces struggled to move forward in their sectors.
Restrictions in the use of airstrikes also slow their advance.
But on Tuesday morning, more than half a dozen rockets roared overhead into the Mosul neighborhood of Tahrir.
Officers identified them as TOS-1 short-range missiles, which unleash a blast of pressure over an area of several hundred square meters, devastating anything in their wake. The officers said they had been informed that there were no civilians in the target area.
“We only use these missiles in empty areas,” Aridhi said. “We don’t use them in places with families in it.” They sometimes are used when Iraqi forces are under heavy direct fire, he said, because it is faster than sending coordinates to the coalition.
[/QUOTE]
[url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iraq-has-never-seen-this-kind-of-fighting-in-its-battles-with-isis/2016/11/11/96af671e-a524-11e6-ba46-53db57f0e351_story.html[/url]
This sounds like an even bigger shitshow than Fallujah
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.