Small Wars Journal

Tensions Arise Among Allies Fighting to Retake ISIS-Held Mosul

Tue, 10/18/2016 - 12:10pm

Tensions Arise Among Allies Fighting to Retake ISIS-Held Mosul by Ben Kesling, Wall Street Journal

Tensions emerged Tuesday among allied forces fighting to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State, as Kurdish fighters accused Iraqi government forces of inaction on only the operation’s second day.

The long-awaited assault on the extremist group’s last major Iraqi stronghold began Monday with rapid advances by Kurdish fighters, who stormed nine nearby villages in the first phase of surrounding Iraqi’s second-largest city. But the pace slowed Tuesday as the Kurdish fighters, known as Peshmerga, consolidated their gains and prepared for the next push.

They also criticized their partners in the Iraqi military.

“The Iraqi army hasn’t moved even a bit,” said the Peshmerga’s Gen. Sihad Barzani. “The plan was us taking villages, and then the Iraqi army takes some of them. They didn’t.”

As he spoke, Gen. Barzani gestured to a nearby staging area where Iraqi artillery pieces sat hitched to trucks and covered with tarps, waiting to be transported to the front. There was no indication they would be moving soon…

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