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Advance on ISIS
The road to Mosul
Story highlights
- Iraqi troops have retaken several villages near Mosul from ISIS, but their hold on the area remains tenuous
- The commander of Iraqi forces in the region says coalition support for their efforts is crucial ahead of a push for the city
Watch Arwa Damon's reports from Iraq live on CNNGo.
Nineveh province, Iraq (CNN)Captain T's sniper rifle hangs out of the truck window as he hums along to "The Warrior Song" blaring forth from his iPhone.
It's
a tune that reminds him of one of his American trainers, back when the
U.S. military was first rebuilding Iraq's security forces, after the
fall of Saddam Hussein.
It's been almost two years since Captain T saw his family, when ISIS took over their village in Nineveh province.
"Sometimes
I am just a ten minute drive away from them, but I can't see them," he
says. "With the help of God, I will get them free soon, very soon."
The
captain, in his mid 30s, asked to go by his rank and first initial out
of fear for his family's safety. He keeps his face covered in a black
mask; if ISIS found out he was with the army, his family would pay the
price.
Roadside bombing
The
convoy of vehicles we're in bump along the dirt road that cuts across
agricultural fields, past defensive berms that snake through farmland
and artillery positions leading to the Iraqi army's new frontline with
ISIS.
Captain
T signals a halt and jumps out to check an area where a roadside bomb
went off that very morning. A boot protrudes from the dirt, and a helmet
lies nearby. No one was killed in the explosion, but several people
were wounded.
"ISIS comes in the middle of the night and plants bombs along the road," one of the officers explains.
In
recent weeks the Iraqi army has managed to recapture a handful of
villages from ISIS in Nineveh province, to the south of Mosul, in what
is being described as the first phase of the operation to liberate
Iraq's second largest city.
Mosul fell to ISIS after the Iraqi Army abandoned their positions and fled in the summer of 2014.
Coalition support key
The
Iraqi army's 15th Infantry Division is the first unit to be back on the
ground in Nineveh since then. The unit's personnel are mostly drawn
from the province itself. They have been reorganized and retrained by
the coalition and are under new command.
The advance so far is being hailed a success, but the gains are small and the troops' hold on the area is tenuous.
The
Iraqi army's resolve is regularly being put to the test: Will they
stand and fight or flee once again? U.S. support is key to that
question.
"I
want to see more support from the Americans and the coalition," says
Major General Najim al-Jobori, commander of Nineveh operations and a
native of Mosul. "My troops are precious to me and the more support we
have, the more of their blood we save."
"The
most important thing is to see ongoing U.S. backing with the
airstrikes, advisers and logistical support," he adds. "It is not an
urgent thing for us right now, [to see] American combat boots on the
ground. We can liberate our own lands."
Gunfire, artillery blasts
Further
along the road, we arrive in the village of Kharabardan, where ISIS
militants managed to sneak into a home on the outskirts overnight, in an
attack that included suicide bombers and dozens of fighters.
In response, the Iraqi troops called in a coalition airstrike that leveled the building and swung the battle in their favor.
Buoyed
by their success they take us to see the bodies of ISIS fighters
scattered on the hillside. Bursts of gunfire and artillery explosions
going off nearby are a constant reminder that ISIS is always probing for
vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
"ISIS,
especially now we are on the perimeter of what is their so called
caliphate, is using waves of suicide bombers backed by fighters," says
al-Jobori.
"For the moment we are
focused on moving closer to the Tigris River and waiting for the other
fronts where units are fighting to also push up towards Mosul."
Subterranean hiding places
While
we were there, Captain T called his family, promising that the Iraqi
army would not be much longer in coming and telling them not to give up
hope.
But
ISIS has had two years to fortify its defenses, both in Mosul and here
in the wider province, in hopes of fending off any attempt to retake the
region.
The Iraqi forces offer us a
sobering glimpse of what their enemies have achieved, escorting us
through a small entrance carved into the hillside. It leads to a complex
underground labyrinth of passages that veer off in multiple directions.
Mattresses and blankets on the floor offer clues to the cavern's role:
sleeping quarters for 8-12 fighters.
The
soldier guiding us through the subterranean maze whispers: "If this is
what they have here, only God knows what they have in Mosul."
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