Iraqi units, augmented by Kurdish militias and Chinese and Iranian military advisors, entered Mosul from the Southeastern sector. The Iraqi military announced that five suburban areas have been liberated and several ISIS soldiers captured. These ISIS fighters were largely conscripts forced into the ISIS ranks, according to Iraqi generals.
Inside Mosul itself, civilian resistance, which has been active all Summer, has risen up en masse and taking a significant toll on ISIS forces. This Summer, at least five top ISIS have been shot by snipers, including ISIS' second-in-command. This morning, Iraqi troops recovered the body of ISIS' top religious leader in the Euphrates River, shot by an unknown assailant.
Apparently, too, ISIS soldiers remaining in Mosul are fighting among themselves. Iranian Intelligence reports that 60 ISIS soldiers were executed after a failed coup attempt against the ISIS leadership this weekend. The plotters evidently advocated surrender and suing for peace. According to interrogated prisoners, ISIS are also fighting over loot and a chance to escape and save themselves.
The Iraqi Government has also set up relief operations for the liberated civilian populations.
Meanwhile, tensions are arising on the sidelines between Allied and US-led 'Coalition' Forces. US forces have been "observing and operating in advisory capacity," according to spokesmen for the Gay-Friendly Pentagon. Of course, the Pentagon's actual purpose in Iraq is to provide Obama with a photo-op once Mosul is liberated; as well as to facilitate ISIS' escape from the city.
The Obama Administration insisted on establishing a so-called safe corridor---which conveniently leads straight to the Syrian border---of which fleeing ISIS forces have taken full advantage. Kurdish commanders are furiously complaining that entire convoys of ISIS troops are moving while US warplanes fly overhead, doing nothing. Kurdish leader Said Mamouziti believes that fugitive ISIS Supreme Commander, Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, is among those who have fled.
"The ISIS commanders, including Al-Baghdadi, are escaping Mosul to Syria. Baghdadi has also ordered his followers to destroy Mosul if they are defeated. ISIS is being evacuated by military convoys, escorted by foreign troops." he stated.
There is also an unconfirmed report that a US officer was shot by a sniper during these operations, near the Syrian border. There was no comment about the incident from the Pentagon today, although the US Military did proudly announce that the Navy is removing sexist language from its training manuals.
In other war-related news, a massive Russian humanitarian aid convoy delivered over 5 tons of food to displaced persons in Southwestern Syria. The Allied forces also made significant gains in Aleppo, recovering the industrial sector in the northern part of the city from Al-Qaeda.
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