Iraqi Forces Encounter Troubles in Final Stage to Eject ISIS From Mosul; U.S. Senators Calls for Trump's Support
As Iraqi forces close in on the Old City of Mosul in their continued efforts to clear the hold of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS, the area's confined constitution brought about issues.
As they enter the cramped streets and alleyways of Iraq's second biggest city, it became more difficult for the group to charge in, as per Capt. Firas al-Zuwaidi, the spokesman for Iraq's elite Rapid Response Force.
"We are encountering difficulties — bad weather and streets too narrow for our military vehicles, which cannot enter," he explained to AFP. "The fighting is street by street, house by house," he went on to say.
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Despite the difficulties, the Iraqi forces are close to reclaiming Mosul, but not without a price that many Iraqis are not willing to pay.
Iraq's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi recently declared in a video that they are in "the last chapter, the final stages to eliminate IS militarily in Iraq."
As the confrontations engulf Mosul, it is estimated that there are around 600,000 civilians holed up in the western part of the ISIS-controlled city while more than 150,000 took off.
"The number of people is higher than expected," UN's humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande, told AFP. "If the pace [of those fleeing] accelerates further, it's going to stretch us to the breaking point," she went on to say.
Unfortunately, there are still hundreds of civilians in the city who ended up getting killed in airstrikes just in the early weeks of March, as per Airwars.
Business Insider reports that the Iraqi forces are depending on the heavy ordinance in eastern Mosul to prevent more casualties.
However, the effort to kick ISIS out of the city is reportedly also slowly making it uninhabitable, as per NBC, which ultimately grinds down the benefits of eliminating the militant group.
Just recently, United States President Donald Trump had his first meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, to whom he promised increased efforts in ending "radical Islamic terrorism."
After the bilateral meeting, al-Abadi said that Iraq has "the strongest counterterrorism forces, but we are looking forward to more cooperation between us and the U.S."
However, Trump is yet to provide concrete details on his plans in helping Iraq free itself from ISIS although the destruction of some parts of Mosul brought about by the attempt has the government committed to helping rebuild the city.
A bipartisan group of senators, however, reached out to Trump and urged the president to continually support Iraq as its final phase to remove ISIS draws to a close.
"We should be ready to support Prime Minister Al-Abadi as he moves forward with a plan to reassure all Iraqis of their inclusion in a unified, federal Iraq," the senators wrote as per The Hill.
"In order to provide this assurance, we should be prepared to assist Iraq in a program of decentralization, reconciliation, and security sector reform," they continued.
