East Mosul may be free from Islamic State control, but it’s far from secure
To show how much this embattled city’s east side has recovered since it was freed from Islamic State two months ago, the police chief set out on a tour last week — with two dozen armed guards, one toting a rocket-propelled grenade. As Iraqi forces fought street by street for control of Mosul’s west side, […]Molly Hennessy-Fiske writes for LA Times:
To show how much this embattled city’s east side has recovered since it was freed from Islamic State two months ago, the police chief set out on a tour last week — with two dozen armed guards, one toting a rocket-propelled grenade.
As Iraqi forces fought street by street for control of Mosul’s west side, authorities on the east side advanced to the next stage of battle: securing and holding areas recaptured from Islamic State.
A steady stream of shoppers stopped to greet the chief as he passed. A young man approached, offering a handful of identification cards he had found: They belonged to Yazidi women, who are an ethnic minority and were probably Islamic State captives. The police accepted the cards and promised to investigate.
