Mosul: IS launches major counter-attack in Kirkuk; some 550 families used as human shields, UN says

22 Oct 2016,

Islamic State (IS) militants have launched a major counter-attack on the oil rich city of Kirkuk, as Iraqi and Kurdish forces continued operations to seize territory around Mosul in preparation for an offensive on the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) has warned that IS militants have taken some 550 families from villages around Mosul and are holding them close to IS bases in the militant stronghold, likely as human shields.

UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani — citing "corroborated information" from the area — added they had received reports that IS militants had killed some 40 civilians in one village.

The counter-assault on Kirkuk, which lies in an oil-producing region south-east of Mosul, appeared to be aimed at diverting coalition forces away from the militants' stronghold — six security forces were killed along with two Iranians, hospital sources said.

In Mosul, Iraqi government forces, with air and ground support from the US-led coalition, reportedly captured eight villages south and south-east of the city.

Kurdish forces attacking from the north and the east also captured several villages, according to statements from their respective military commands.

The offensive that begun on Monday to recapture Mosul, is expected to become the biggest battle fought in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.

The United Nations has warned that Mosul could require the biggest humanitarian relief operation in the world, with worst-case scenario forecasts of up to a million people being uprooted.

About 1.5 million residents are still believed to be inside Mosul — the fighting has forced 5,640 people to flee their homes so far from the vicinity of the city, the International Organisation for Migration said late on Thursday (local time).

The Turkish Red Crescent said it was sending aid trucks to northern Iraq with food and humanitarian supplies for 10,000 people displaced by fighting around Mosul.

US coalition air support 'not enough': Kurdish command

Roughly 5,000 US forces are in Iraq — more than 100 of them are embedded with Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, advising commanders and helping them ensure coalition air power hits the right targets, officials said.

However, the Kurdish military command complained that air support was not enough on Thursday (local time).

"Regrettably a number of Peshmerga have paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to deliver today's gains against ISIL," the Kurdish command said in a statement.

"Further, global coalition warplanes and support were not as decisive as in the past."

Mosul won't be quick or easy

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, addressing anti-IS coalition allies meeting in Paris via video link, said the offensive was advancing more quickly than planned.

But IS militants have denied that government forces had advanced towards Mosul.

Under the headline "The crusade on Nineveh gets a lousy start", the group's weekly online magazine Al-Nabaa said it repelled assaults on all fronts, killing dozens in ambushes and suicide attacks and destroying dozens of vehicles including tanks.

In Kirkuk, IS militants reportedly attacked several police buildings and a power station in the early hours of Friday (local time) and some of the attackers remained holed up in a mosque and an abandoned hotel.

The militants also cut the road between the city and the power station 30 kilometres to the north.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters took control of Kirkuk in 2014, after the Iraqi army withdrew from the region, fleeing an IS militant advance through northern and western Iraq.