Islamic State tightens grip on village near Mosul after defeat

 

A member of Iraqi Federal police walks along destroyed buildings from clashes in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq July 10, 2017. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

 

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Islamic State has captured most of a village south of Mosul despite losing control of its stronghold in the city, an Iraqi army officer and residents said, deploying guerrilla-style tactics as its self-proclaimed caliphate crumbles.

 

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State (IS) in Mosul on Monday, marking the biggest defeat for the hardline Sunni group since its lightning sweep through northern Iraq three years ago.

 

But the militants, armed with machine guns and mortars, have now seized more than 75 percent of Imam Gharbi, a village on the western bank of the Tigris river some 70 km (44 miles) south of Mosul, and reinforcements are expected, the Iraqi army officer said.

 

Islamic State launched its attack on Imam Gharbi last week, in the kind of strike it is expected to deploy now as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces regain control over cities the group captured during its shock 2014 offensive.

 

Stripped of Mosul, IS's dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city.

 

Islamic State also faces pressure in its operational base in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces have seized territory on three sides of the city.

 

The campaign to retake Mosul from the militants was launched last October by a 100,000-strong alliance of Iraqi government units, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shi'ite militias, with a U.S.-led coalition providing key air and ground support.

 

Abadi's government in Iraq now faces a difficult task managing the sectarian tensions which enabled Islamic State to gain supporters in the country among fellow Sunnis who say they were marginalised by the Shi'ite-led government.

 

The U.S.-led coalition warned that victory in Mosul did not mark the end of the group's global threat.

 

"Now it is time for all Iraqis to unite to ensure ISIS (Islamic State) is defeated across the rest of Iraq and that the conditions that led to the rise of ISIS in Iraq are not allowed to return again," Lieutenant General Stephen J. Townsend said in a statement.

 

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-11

Sounds like ISIL are getting more desperate. I wonder where they will try set up shop next to continue their war.  Like a bunch of rats that have abandoned the sinking ship of their caliphate, they will scurry away to some where else. Dogs!

Geezer

Unfortunately, they have a lot of supporters in Western Countries.   Hopefully, their defeat in the ME, won't continue it's expansion in the West.  

Obviously severe concerns they will go underground but a huge relief for those poor souls caught in that hellhole. Hopefully most are dead or will be very soon.  

25 minutes ago, Scott said:

Unfortunately, they have a lot of supporters in Western Countries.   Hopefully, their defeat in the ME, won't continue it's expansion in the West.  

Security leaders have advised the threat of Islamist terror will be ongoing for many years in Western countries, with the likelihood of a spike in attacks, as we have already seen, during the collapse of Daesh.

The war was not won against ISIL by their defeat in Mosul, that was just another battle.