Trend Update: ISIS, End of Days in Mosul, May 2017
Nahum 3:1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; her prey never departs.
Nahum 3:3 Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears gleaming, many slain, a mass of corpses, and countless dead bodies. They stumble over the dead bodies!
May 14, 2017: ISIS appears to be on the brink of defeat in Mosul, Iraq or what is ancient Nineveh. The circle surrounding ISIS is getting smaller and smaller with each passing day. Roads leading into Mosul from the west have been blocked and controlled by Iraqi forces. The east side of Mosul is controlled by Iraqi forces. Bridges over the Tigris River are controlled by Iraqi forces. ISIS has nowhere to go.
The liberation of ancient Nineveh from ISIS has been taking place for seven months. Brigadier General Yahya Rasoul estimates ISIS controls only 9% of western Mosul. ISIS forces are concentrated in the old city of Mosul where the population is the densest and the streets are the narrowest.
ISIS continues with suicide car bombs, snipers, and the use of innocent human shields.
“Daesh (ISIS) is drawing its last dying breath. Daesh fighters are broken and quickly retreating from fronts,” Lieutenant General Qasim Nazzal.
Conditions in western Mosul continue to decline. It is estimated that 10,000 people a day are leaving the city. Those leaving the war torn area face sniper fire and road side bombs.
Summer is around the corner and temperatures are starting to rise. Last year in 2016, temperatures reached the upper 120’s F. Temperatures have already climbed into the upper 90’s F.
Food is scarce. People are resorting to eating weeds.
Water is at a premium. ISIS has damaged all 25 water plants west of Mosul. Repairs may take up to 3 months. Air strikes by both sides in the conflict have affected water supplies. Dead bodies floating in the Tigris River are health and safety considerations with the water supply.
People need to drink 2.5 gallons of water per day to stay hydrated in these conditions. Water wells provide water for the displaced. The water is treated and trucked into tent camps and Mosul. The well water needs to be treated because of Sulphur content and sanitation.
Tent cities have been set up for stranded civilians. The respite tents have been set up 15-20 miles of Mosul.
“I’m glad it is safe here, but it’s so boring, and it’s so hot. We don’t even have a fan in our tent. Sleeping is hard and it’s going to get hotter,” 12-year-old Yusof.
The United Nations estimates over 434,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in western Mosul since February 2017. The UN estimates over 615,000 people have been moved since the beginning of the intervention in October 2016.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/iraqi-forces-push-isil-pocket-mosul-170514102411518.html
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