Daesh (the so-called IS) fighters on Wednesday kept up their fierce defense of the southern approaches to Mosul which has held up Iraqi troops on the southern front and forced an elite army unit east of the city to put its more rapid advance on hold. Ten days into the offensive, Iraqi army and federal police units are trying to dislodge the militants from villages in the region of Shora, 30 km (20 miles) south of Iraq's second largest city. The frontlines in other areas have moved much closer to the edges of Mosul, the last major city under control of the militants in Iraq, who have held it since 2014. The elite army unit which moved in from the east has paused its advance as it approaches built-up areas, waiting for the other attacking forces to close the gap. "As Iraqi forces move closer to Mosul, we see that Daesh resistance is getting stronger," said Maj. Chris Parker, a coalition spokesman at the Qayyara airbase south of Mosul that serves as a hub for the campaign. The combat ahead is also likely to get more deadly as 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case United Nations' forecasts see up to a million people being uprooted. UN aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 10,600 to flee their homes. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told Reuters on Tuesday that a mass exodus could happen, maybe within the next few days. In the worst case scenario, Grande said it was also possible that Daesh fighters could resort to "rudimentary chemical weapons" to hold back the impending assault. The battle may become the biggest yet in the 13 years of turmoil unleashed by the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the fall of Mosul would mark the group's effective defeat in Iraq. It was from its Grand Mosque that Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" that also spans parts of Syria. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the attack on Raqqa, Daesh's main stronghold in Syria, would start while the battle of Mosul is unfolding. Shiite militias joining soon A senior US official said about 50,0000 Iraqi ground troops are taking part in the offensive, of which a core force of 30,000 from the government's armed forces, 10,000 Kurdish fighters and the remaining 10,000 from the police and local volunteers. Iraqi army units are deployed to the south and east, while Kurdish fighters are attacking from the east and the north of the city where 5,000 to 6,000 jihadists are dug in, according to Iraqi military estimates. Roughly 5,000 US forces are also in Iraq. More than 100 of them are embedded with Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces advising commanders and helping coalition air power in hitting targets. They are not deployed on frontlines. The attacking forces are set to increase soon when Iranian-trained and backed Shiite militias join Iraqi forces. The militias, known collectively as Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization, last week said they will help the army take back Tal Afar, aTurkmen city west of Mosul. — Reuters
