Mosul battle: Iraqi special forces enter city limits

Iraqi forces have for the first time entered the eastern outskirts of Mosul, as they attempt to drive Islamic State (IS) militants from the northern city.

Elite Counter-Terrorism Service troops seized control of the state television building in Kukjali hours after launching an assault on the area.

But a BBC journalist embedded with them says they are facing fierce resistance.

Units of the army’s ninth division are meanwhile said to be bearing down on south-eastern districts of the city.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told the 3,000 to 5,000 militants believed to be inside Mosul, which they overran in June 2014, that there was “no escape” and to “either surrender or die”.

About 50,000 Iraqi security forces personnel, Kurdish fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen and Shia militiamen are involved in the two-week-old offensive to drive IS militants out of their last major urban stronghold in the country.

CTS units retook Bazwaya, the last village before Mosul’s eastern outskirts, in a dawn assault on Monday and then advanced on the Kukjali industrial zone.

They moved out again shortly before first light on Tuesday, this time with the aim of entering the adjoining Kukjali residential area, which is within the city limits.

If the troops can establish a foothold inside Mosul, it will be a big day for Iraq and all the other countries involved in the fight against the jihadist group, our correspondent says.

However, they are coming up against much more fierce resistance than he has seen in the past few days.

The troops have responded to the RPG, machine-gun and sniper fire with heavy weapons, and also by calling in air strikes by the US-led coalition against IS.

A number of civilians have also approached them, some waving white flags.

By noon, the troops were approaching the more built-up Karama district, Maj Gen Sami al-Airdi of the CTS told the Associated Press news agency.

In an attempt to slow the advance, militants had set up concrete blast walls to block the main road into Karama, and also planted bombs along it, he said.

Later, as the state television building was retaken, CTS commander Lt Gen Abdul Wahhab al-Saidi said most of Kokjali had been cleared.

One resident of the neighbouring Quds district told Reuters news agency: “We can see [IS] fighters firing towards the Iraqi forces and moving in cars between the alleys of the neighbourhood.”

The Iraqi military also announced on Tuesday that the ninth armoured division was approaching the south-eastern districts of Somer, Palestine, Yarimjah and Intisar, having recaptured the outlying villages of Allag, Tahrawah and Tubraq Ziyarah.

As Mosul is encircled, UN officials have expressed concern for the safety of the 1.5 million civilians estimated to be living there.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday that it had received fresh reports of mass killings and forced relocations carried out by IS.

Militants were alleged to have killed 40 former soldiers from the Shura area south of Mosul and from villages surrounding the town of Hamam al-Alil, and then thrown their bodies into the River Tigris, spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.

IS also brought dozens of lorries and mini-buses into Hamam al-Alil early on Monday in an attempt to forcibly transfer 25,000 to the city itself, she added.

Many of the vehicles were prevented from moving by coalition military operations in the area. But some did reach Abu Saif, just outside Mosul’s international airport.

More than 17,900 people have fled Mosul since the offensive began. According to the UN’s worst-case scenario, as many as 700,000 others could follow suit.

Separately on Tuesday, Turkey began deploying tanks and other vehicles to its border with Iraq. A convoy was seen moving towards the Turkish town of Silopi, about 100km (62 miles) north-west of Mosul.

Defence Minister Fikri Isik said Turkey was “making preparations for all kinds of possibilities”.

Turkey is concerned about any strengthening of influence of the Kurdish PKK organisation, which it regards as a terrorist group. It has also said it wants to protect Iraq’s Turkmen community – ethnic Turks who reside in Iraq, Iran and Syria.

BBC