http://www.businessinsider.com/wounded-american-troops-fighting-isis-2017-1
Newly-released data from the Department of Defense shows an alarming spike in the number of American personnel wounded in the fight against ISIS.
Since October, at least 14 US troops were wounded in combat operations under Operation Inherent Resolve — nearly double the number wounded since the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria began in August 2014. At least 8 Americans were killed in combat since the campaign began, while 23 have died in "non-hostile" events.
The Pentagon's quiet acknowledgement of a spike in casualties
was first reported by Andrew deGrandpre at Military Times.
The increase in combat wounds — which can be caused by small-arms fire, rockets, mortars, and other weaponry, though the Pentagon does not release specifics of how troops are injured — lines up with ongoing offensives against ISIS in the Iraqi city of Mosul and its Syrian capital of Raqqa.
US military officials have often downplayed the role of American troops in the region, saying they are there
mainly to "advise and assist" Iraqi and Kurdish personnel fighting on the front lines.
The military has more than
5,000 troops on the ground in Iraq currently, a number which has steadily crept up since roughly 300 troops were
deployed to secure the Baghdad airport in June 2014.
With 15 combat injuries, the Marine Corps has the most wounded in the campaign so far. The Army, Navy, and Air Force had 11, 3, and 1 wounded, respectively.
http://www.businessinsider.com/military-advisers-inside-mosul-2017-1
The battle to retake Mosul began in October, and Iraqi forces have encountered fierce resistance and significant casualties. For example, Iraq's elite "Golden Brigade" of special operations troops have suffered upwards of "50 percent casualties" in the fight, which could eventually make them combat ineffective, according to a Pentagon officer
who spoke with Politico.
Casualties have also hit US forces as well.
Since October, the number of Americans wounded in combat has nearly doubled since OIR kicked off in August 2014.
That's likely due to US forces working more closely with their Iraqi counterparts. Though US officials have often downplayed the role of American troops in the region as merely training, advising, and assisting Iraqi forces, the
latest situation report from the Institute for the Study of War says that US and coalition forces have "embedded their advisors at lower-levels in the [Iraqi Security Forces]."
In other words, US special operations forces are often not remaining behind the front lines — especially considering a "front line" in the anti-ISIS fight is murky at best — but instead, are right in the thick of it with Iraqi troops.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/world/mena/iraqi-forces-press-gains-daesh-mosul/
ERBIL, Iraq — Iraqi forces pressed gains against Daesh (so-called IS) militants in eastern Mosul on Wednesday and have retaken two more districts, security sources said, with thousands more civilians fleeing the fighting.
An elite Interior Ministry unit had entered the Mithaq district and were clearing it on Wednesday, the sources said, while counterterrorism forces retook an industrial zone on Tuesday.
The militants are using the city terrain to their advantage, concealing car bombs in narrow alleys, posting snipers on tall buildings with civilians on lower floors, and making underground tunnels and surface-level passageways between buildings.
“We were very afraid,” said one Mithaq resident.
“A Daesh anti-aircraft weapon was positioned close to our house and was opening fire on helicopters. We could see a small number of Daesh fighters in the street carrying light and medium weapons. They were hit by planes.”
Most of those fleeing are from the eastern districts but residents of the besieged west, still fully under the militants’ control, are increasingly attempting to escape, scaling bridges bombed by the coalition and crossing the Tigris by boat.
Despite shortages of food and water, most Mosul residents had stayed in their homes rather than fleeing as many had expected before the offensive began in October.
The UN refugee agency has said 125,568 people have been displaced from Mosul, a city of about 1.5 million, and more than 13,000 of those have fled in the five days since the US-led coalition renewed an offensive that had stalled for weeks.
That represents an increase of nearly 50 percent in the number of people who fled every day from Mosul over the several weeks of relative calm that ended last weekend.
Twelve weeks into Iraq’s largest military campaign since the US-led invasion of 2003, security forces have retaken about a quarter of Mosul.
“Finally we have been freed,” a second Mithaq resident told Reuters by phone. “We feared fighting would be fierce, but it was easy compared with other areas. Daesh members fled without putting up strong resistance.”
Counterterrorism units pushed into eastern Mosul in October but regular army troops tasked with advancing from the north and south made slower progress and the operation stalled.
After redeploying forces, Iraqi forces have been advancing on three fronts towards the Tigris river that bisects Mosul, in a second phase of the offensive.
Victory in Mosul would probably spell the end for Daesh’s self-styled caliphate but in recent days the militants have displayed the tactics to which they are likely to resort when they lose the city, with bomb attacks in Baghdad, and attacks on security forces in territory they have lost. — Reuters
Iraq security forces patrol as they carry operations to rescue Felluce town from Daesh terrorists in Al-Andalus and Al- Risale towns, on June 18, 2016 in Anbar, Iraq. ( Haydar Hadi - Anadolu Agency )
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/army-tribal-allies-make-gains-against-daesh-in-w-iraq/721771
The Iraqi army and pro-government tribal fighters captured several villages on Friday -- without facing resistance -- from the Daesh terrorist group in the western Anbar province, according to a military official.
Army Major-General Numan Abdel-Zawbaei told Anadolu Agency that Iraqi forces had "liberated" seven villages located between Anbar’s city of Haditha and the town of Anah.
The villages were taken after Daesh militants vacated the area without offering resistance, leaving weapons and ammunition behind before retreating to the town of Anah.
Iraqi forces are now reportedly besieging areas near Anah before a decisive advance on the town.
In a related development, Iraqi counter-terrorism forces also liberated the northern city of Mosul’s eastern Al-Muthanna district, according to a televised statement by General Abdel-Amir Yarullah.
The Iraqi army, backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and local allies on the ground, is currently engaged in a major offensive aimed at ejecting Daesh from Mosul, which the terrorist group overran in mid-2014.
Since the operation began in mid-October, Iraqi forces have reportedly established control over more than a quarter of Mosul, once considered Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population.
*Reporting by Suleiman al-Qubeisi, Ibrahim Salih and Ali Jawad; Writing by Mahmoud Barakat