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Battle for Mosul has begun. 1 million civilians trapped inside the city ruled by ISIS

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HariKari

Member
Toyota? Cheapest would have been a kia or suzuki...
kidding, but fair point. I guess everyone can't spend the amount of gdp on its military that the US does

Edit: apparently scopes for the 50 cal snipers are too much also

The PMF/militias are a total hodgepodge of stuff. I've seen them running around with German G36s at one point. The proper Iraqi army has a lot of armored humvees and MRAPs that the US left behind/gave them, so they tend to roll through a town slowly by surely. They've even got some M1 Abrams equipped units up and running.

I guess if that report is to be believed, ISIS figures they have a better chance of surviving in Syria where the U.S. can't project quite as much power.

the Kurdish fighters are surprisingly well equipped.

They've been in the fight for a long time and are reliable. Wouldn't surprise me if they got the lion's share of aid.
 

- J - D -

Member
Numbers are all over the place. From estimates of ~700k (BBC) to 1.5 million (UN sec) citizens remaining. No way the latter number can be right, right?
 

DrFurbs

Member
I don't understand isis or Muslim supporters of Sharia law. They harp on about western powers in the middle East inflicting death on their Muslim brothers but all I see and read is Muslims brutally butchering Muslims.

Am I missing something?
 

sphagnum

Banned
I don't understand isis or Muslim supporters of Sharia law. They harp on about western powers in the middle East inflicting death on their Muslim brothers but all I see and read is Muslims brutally butchering Muslims.

Am I missing something?

ISIS believes that a ton of Muslims are actually heretics so they don't have a problem with killing them.
 
The Iraqi Army... yeah excuse me for not having faith in them acomplishing anything. A noble goal, but I don't think they'll be able to retake Mosul.

The Iraqi Army, as in the army of the state of Iraq is not doing this. It's all sectarian militias, some of whom have more modern battle tanks then many NATO states.
 

bsp

Member
The Iraqi Army... yeah excuse me for not having faith in them acomplishing anything. A noble goal, but I don't think they'll be able to retake Mosul.

The front is being led by the Iraqi Gold Division which is a phenomenal special operations unit with an incredible track record with regards to fighting ISIS. They are heavily integrated with Western SOF and operate almost on par. US SOF are also on the ground "advising" via dropping bombs with radios.
 
The Iraqi Army, as in the army of the state of Iraq is not doing this. It's all sectarian militias, some of whom have more modern battle tanks then many NATO states.

The front is being led by the Iraqi Gold Division which is a phenomenal special operations unit with an incredible track record with regards to fighting ISIS. They are heavily integrated with Western SOF and operate almost on par. US SOF are also on the ground "advising" via dropping bombs with radios.

The problem is the very nature of urban warfare against an enemy that can and will use civilians as shields.
Even under the best circumstances and plenty of supplies and coordinated air recon such a goal would be extremely hard.

Still, don't get me wrong, I'd rather have them win this.
 

thespot84

Member
The front is being led by the Iraqi Gold Division which is a phenomenal special operations unit with an incredible track record with regards to fighting ISIS. They are heavily integrated with Western SOF and operate almost on par. US SOF are also on the ground "advising" via dropping bombs with radios.

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I'm Sorry
 

HariKari

Member
The Iraqi Army... yeah excuse me for not having faith in them acomplishing anything. A noble goal, but I don't think they'll be able to retake Mosul.

You'd be right a few years ago, but they've since been reformed. Even the worst fighter stands pretty tall when they've got A-10s doing gun runs for them. The longest and hardest part will probably be clearing every nook and cranny rigged with explosives, even if there is no big fight.
 

DrFurbs

Member
ISIS believes that a ton of Muslims are actually heretics so they don't have a problem with killing them.

Yes but see this even say.. London or Birmingham. Supporters in the street bleating on about western interference and killing their brothers. Not once in any of the videos have I watched do they mention the mass slaughter of Muslim innocents by their so called brothers.

I think they are very blinkered in their views.
 
I saw the video of them killing the 25 civilians in the same style as an animal slaughter house. I hope every one of the murderers in that video dies a horrible, painful death in the next few days/weeks.

Awful situation for the population, but what else can be done? These monsters can't be bargained with, the only thing they understand is death.

I hope they pull out before it gets too bad like they have in other areas.
 
ISIS have around 10,000 militants in Mosul city and further 5,000 in the suburbs.
I wonder, logistically, how challenging it would be for ISIS to pull their forces from Mosul and relocate to say Raqqa, for example.
Seems like ISIS would rather avoid big losses in Mosul and defend Raqqa to the last man with all of their forces in a siege that would take a very long time.

What am I missing here and I readily state I'm oversimplifying but how is it a million civilians get held hostage by only 10,000-15,000?
 
ISIS supporters in Mosul must lead a lovely life.

Kids killed by chainsaw, lowered into a vat of acid, drowned, flamed, shot and beheaded.

How does this not start some sort of civilian revolt?
 

HariKari

Member
ISIS supporters in Mosul must lead a lovely life.

Kids killed by chainsaw, lowered into a vat of acid, drowned, flamed, shot and beheaded.

How does this not start some sort of civilian revolt?

There is a resistance group that has been gunning down ISIS folks inside Mosul for awhile. They probably don't have the means to take back the city on their own, though. ISIS would also probably mow down every single person that lifted a finger against them, given the chance.
 
ISIS supporters in Mosul must lead a lovely life.

Kids killed by chainsaw, lowered into a vat of acid, drowned, flamed, shot and beheaded.

How does this not start some sort of civilian revolt?

And if the revolt fails it will be their children and babies getting lowered into acid and killed with chainsaws.

ISIS have tanks and other military hardware, and you expect civilians who at the most would be armed with shitty old AK's to stand up to them?
 
ISIS supporters in Mosul must lead a lovely life.

Kids killed by chainsaw, lowered into a vat of acid, drowned, flamed, shot and beheaded.

How does this not start some sort of civilian revolt?

Probably because of chainsaws, acid, beheading...civilians must be scared to death, disorganised, and desperate. I cannot phantom what kind of atrocities we will find out about when/if ISIS is finally wiped out or at least significantly weakened.
 
I can't begin to imagine how you purge such a large city, let alone how people are going to rebuild and live after that, being trapped inside with these animals for years.

What am I missing here and I readily state I'm oversimplifying but how is it a million civilians get held hostage by only 10,000-15,000?
That's not necessarily surprising. Occupations usually rely on organization, collaborators, threats and setting examples.
I mean, occupied France had something like 50k nazi soldiers.
 

MogCakes

Member
I wonder what ideology it is that draws people to become part of this group. After indoctrination they see others as subhuman. Their influence is far-spread despite the terrifying nature of their reign. I suspect a lot has to do with facilitating a cult and isolating their members from any outside influence. It is frightening how easily people fall in to these groups.
 
Once Mosul has been taken there will surely be attacks on the Shia forces that took the city. The main reason ISIS did not face a revolt was that most of the population tolerated a Sunni party in charge no matter how loathsome they were.
 

Yahsper

Member
Yes but see this even say.. London or Birmingham. Supporters in the street bleating on about western interference and killing their brothers. Not once in any of the videos have I watched do they mention the mass slaughter of Muslim innocents by their so called brothers.
Well, you only get to see what the media think is interesting for western audience. Having the choice between footage of muslims protesting other muslims or muslims protesting the west, they'll always show the footage of muslims protesting the west.
 

Gorger

Member
Looking at the wikipedia article for the second battle of Mosul you can see the leadership are being killed of like flies.

It must create a lot of disorganization and chaos having so much of the leadership gone before the battle.

I wish the Iraqi's and Kurds good luck.
 

Tak3n

Banned
There is someone very twisted coming up with these different deaths......fucking hell you would be pleased to just get shot I reckon, they are some brutal deaths
 
Wonder how many civilian casualties there will be? I'm sure they will all because of ISIS and not our friendly militias nor the airstrikes into a populated city.

Can't wait till we get to do this again in Damascus, r-right guys?
 

fanboi

Banned
Wonder how many civilian casualties there will be? I'm sure they will all because of ISIS and not our friendly militias nor the airstrikes into a populated city.

Can't wait till we get to do this again in Damascus, r-right guys?

So you are saying they shouldn't remove it from ISIS hands?
 

Violet_0

Banned
That is nuts. Is it just fire-power then?

the Iraqi troops abandoned their posts and fled in droves ahead of the (vastly outnumbered) ISIS forces, leaving behind tanks, figthing jets and other highly advanced military equipment. That's why no one has/had any confidence in their army
 
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