Voices from Mosul: ‘Hope is fading’
When Iraqi troops launched the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS in late October, many families in the city were hopeful. After two years living under the militant group's draconian rule, they believed they would be freed in a matter of days. Visions of liberation soon gave way to a much bloodier reality. Seven weeks […]Mohammed Tawfeeq and Salma Abdelaziz write for CNN:
When Iraqi troops launched the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS in late October, many families in the city were hopeful. After two years living under the militant group's draconian rule, they believed they would be freed in a matter of days.
Visions of liberation soon gave way to a much bloodier reality. Seven weeks into the operation, only a small sliver of the city's eastern neighborhoods has been declared cleared and secured.
Coalition forces are now locked into a grueling house-to-house battle for the city, a fight that will take many more months. ISIS has resisted fiercely -- blowing up hundreds of car bombs, placing snipers on the rooftops of homes, and even using civilians as human shields.
