Mosul residents struggle to escape as ISIL forms an ever thicker human shield
Soldiers occupying the elegant houses that line the edge of Mosul’s Old City lounge on mattresses in dimly lit rooms. Some sit together in spacious courtyards smoking water pipes. Others hold watch on rooftops and in doorways. The insurgents have had plenty of time to build their defences, and Iraqi forces will not be able […]Florian Neuhof writes for The National:
Soldiers occupying the elegant houses that line the edge of Mosul’s Old City lounge on mattresses in dimly lit rooms. Some sit together in spacious courtyards smoking water pipes. Others hold watch on rooftops and in doorways.
The insurgents have had plenty of time to build their defences, and Iraqi forces will not be able to rely on covering fire from their armoured vehicles in much of the urban maze. Explosive booby traps and suicide bombers will slow their advance, while air support and artillery fire will be limited in the densely inhabited area.
ISIL is preventing civilians from crossing the frontlines, even herding inhabitants in soon-to-be liberated areas deeper into the city to create an ever thicker human shield. The extremists shoot at anyone attempting to leave, and frequently kill men, women and children running for their lives.
