https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iraqi-forces-prepare-to-break-into-mosul-inbattle-against-islamic-state/2016/10/31/e7667a78-9f82-11e6-88646f892cad0865_story.

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By Loveday Morris and Mustafa Salim October 31

Iraqi forces prepare to break into Mosul in battle against Islamic

State
ZARGAH, Iraq Iraqi forces said they reached the eastern outskirts of Mosul on Monday
and were preparing to make the first break into the city, which has been held by Islamic
State militants for more than two years.
Following an early morning push, forces from Iraqs elite counterterrorism units took
positions on the edge of the suburb of Gogjali, an industrial area on the very outer limits of
Mosul, said Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, head of the force. They had progressed faster
than expected during the day, he said.
Mosul, a city of more than a million people and the heart of Islamic States so-called
caliphate, is now within their sights. Speaking on state television, Prime Minister Haider alAbadi assured civilians that his forces were close, and urged people to stay in their homes.
Commanders say they have little way of predicting just how much resistance security forces
will face inside the city. Since the operation to retake Mosul was launched two weeks ago,
the militants have abandoned some villages, while in others they have sent streams of car
bombs at their lines. Much will depend, some say, on whether civilians decide to aid the
advancing forces as much as they can.
Abadi on Monday also called on civilians to attempt to expel the militants and prevent them
from booby trapping neighborhoods. But the presence of so many people also complicates
air support from the U.S.-led coalition, which Iraqi forces rely on heavily.
Still, commanders appeared buoyed by their progress on Monday.
Nothing will be hard for us, Asadi said.

Earlier in the day, the elite units, which have led most of the countrys battles against the
militants, retook the village of Bazwaya, the last village between them and the city. Asadi
had said he had expected the fight there to take two or three days, but that it took six hours.
The militants dispatched three car bombs, but they were all detonated by airstrikes, he said.

http://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/iraq-police-battle-suicide-bombers/

Iraq police battle suicide bombers

Monday, October 31, 2016
SHURA: Iraqi federal policemen stood over the corpse of an Islamic State suicide bomber
covered by a curtain. The chain attached to his ankle was tied to a car that had dragged him
through streets, they said, that were once part of a self-proclaimed jihadist caliphate. Nearby
policemen fired AK-47 assault rifles in the air to mark their victory in Shura, one of dozens of
villages captured as Iraqi forces press on with an offensive towards the nearby city of Mosul, the
militants main stronghold in the country. But celebrations were mixed with curiosity and
apprehension as security forces searched for clues on what makes the worlds most violent and
feared Islamist militant group tick.
I shot two of the suicide bombers, said Ali Hashim. One of them was running right at me. I
could see him holding a cord up near his head as he ran. I shot him in time. Federal policemen
are part of the forces pressing ahead with an offensive to recapture Mosul from Islamic State, in
what will likely be the biggest battle in Iraq since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in
2003 and unleashed turmoil. Even if Islamic State loses, Iraq faces the daunting challenge of
making sure the assault on the predominantly Sunni Muslim city does not inflame sectarian
tensions.
The top commander in the Shura area, Staff Major Hayman Abbas, was cautiously optimistic
about seizing more villages and towns, even after his men killed seven suicide bombers in two
days. My biggest worry is what I call the kamikaze suicide bomber. This is someone who is very
efficient at shooting a lot of people during a battle and then blows himself up, he said. Three
suicide bombers lay in the centre of the village, their corpses burned to a deep black colour.

One was sprawled out on a sidewalk, wearing the type of clothes that jihadists wear in Pakistan
or Afghanistan.
Another was layed out in a sand lot. Dozens of bullet casings were scattered across the area.
Foreign fighters who occupied the town included Yemenis and Saudis, senior police officers
said. Chechnyan militants also controlled the village, some of the most feared Islamic State
members because they are seen as the most fanatic and experienced. One police officer saved
a photograph he took of an official Islamic State document granting a Chechnyan militant leave
for three day.