In Iraq, ISIS Attacks City Of Kirkuk As Battle For Mosul Rages

NPR ^ | October 21, 2016 | Merrit Kennedy

[AU72]

SIS fighters launched attacks on police Friday in the city of Kirkuk, as Iraqi security forces continued a massive military offensive to try to pry Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities, from the militant group.

"The fighters struck [Kirkuk] before dawn, with suicide bombers hitting four police stations and gunmen killing police," NPR's Alice Fordham reports from Irbil, Iraq, though the number of casualties wasn't immediately clear. "A curfew is imposed in Kirkuk, but eyewitnesses say fighting continues."

The militants also hit an electricity station outside the city, Alice says. At least 13 workers died in the apparent suicide bombing, according to The Associated Press. Multiple news reports said the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks in statements online.

The Kirkuk attack drew focus away from the multi-pronged Iraqi offensive on Mosul, now in its fourth day. It's billed as the toughest fight yet for security forces battling Islamic State militants. Victory there would push ISIS out of the last major urban center under their control in Iraq; the group has held Mosul since 2014.

Iraqi forces on the ground were reporting progress, and "officials said they had advanced as far as the town of Bartella, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Mosul's outskirts, by Thursday," the AP reports.

However, the U.N. says reports are emerging that the Islamic State fighters may be using civilians as human shields.

As Iraqi forces advance toward Mosul, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein says, reports indicate that ISIS is "keeping civilians close to their offices or places where fighters are located, resulting in civilian casualties."

The U.N. Human Rights Office says that on the first day of the offensive, according to these reports: "ISIL forced some 200 families out of Samalia village to walk to Mosul," and "350 families fled Bajafia village in Nimroud Sub-district, towards Mosul, highlighting ISIL's apparently policy of preventing civilians from escaping to areas controlled by Iraqi security forces." The U.N. office also has gotten reports that "at least 20 civilians were shot dead by ISIL in one of the villages outside Mosul."

Al Hussein added that "we know ISIL has no regard for human life, which is why it is incumbent upon the Iraqi government to do its utmost to protect civilians."

U.S. troops are assisting Iraqi forces as on-the-ground advisers and by providing air support, but they are not taking part in ground combat.

The Pentagon said Thursday that a U.S. service member was killed in northern Iraq. It has now identified the deceased individual as Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan, 34, a bomb disposal technician from Anaheim, Calif. He died from "wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device blast."

[AU72]

Some battle. After 4 days still 9 miles from the outskirts of Mosul. Meanwhile Kirkuk is under attack.

Playing wack-a-mole with ISIS.

[hinckley buzzard]

The "Battle for Mosul" appears to me to be timed as an election stunt for consumption here at home. It doubt it is any more serious an offensive than the "allied" actions in Syria, which have dragged on interminably..

[patro]

Bartella must be a suburb of Mosul. In 2015, the city population was 664,221, and including outlying metro areas, between 750,000 and 1,500,000.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

Church bells ring in Bartella for the first time in two years

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3cc_1477137734

[PIF]

According to some it is an 0bama created distraction - however, like all the rest of his policies, it is going badly with the Turks threatening to attack the Kurds if they participate, and the Kurds withdrawing ground support for any attack on Raqqa, all the while the Iranians are waiting to clean up the spoils.

[JimSEA]

ISIS knows the only rule of war is winning and they are totally inhuman in their pursuit of victory. Also, the Iraqi military is a mix of Shia militants and secular military.

[trebb]

Playing wack-a-mole with ISIS.

Yep - they have been allowed to grow big enough thet no battle/set of battle will do a lot of damage. Telegraphing the Mosul "take back" only allowed them to relocate the real movers and shakers to organize harrying attacks/counterattacks outside Mosul proper.

Classic cluster F### by Obama/Hillary/Kerry