Leaflets on Mosul ahead of offensive
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BAGHDAD, Oct 16, (Agencies): The Iraqi army dropped tens of thousands of leaflets over Mosul before dawn on Sunday, warning residents an offensive to recapture the city from Islamic State was in its final stages of preparation, according to a military statement in Baghdad. The leaflets carried several messages, one of them assuring the population that advancing army units and air strikes “will not target civilians” and another telling them to avoid known locations of Islamic State militants.
The assault on Mosul, the last city still under control of the ultra- hardline Islamic State in Iraq, could begin this month with the support of a US-led coalition, according to Iraqi government and military officials. Islamic State fighters are dug in and are expected to fight hard. They have forced civilians to stay in harm’s way during previous battles to defend territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he hoped the United States and its allies would do their best to avoid civilian casualties in an attack on Mosul.
Reflecting the authorities’ concerns over a mass exodus that would complicate the offensive, the leaflets told residents “to stay at home and not to believe rumours spread by DAESH” to cause panic, referring to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym. With a pre-war population of around 2 million, Mosul is around 4-5 times the size of any other city recaptured so far from the militants, who swept through northern Iraq in 2014 and also hold a swathe of Syria The UN last week said it was bracing for the world’s biggest and most complex humanitarian effort in the battle for the city, which could make up to 1 million people homeless and see civilians used as human shields or even gassed. “Keep calm and tell your children that it is only a game or thunder before the rain,” a leaflet said. “Women should not scream or shout, to preserve the children’s spirit.” “If you see an army unit, stay at least 25 meters away and avoid any sudden movements,” another said.
Iraq earlier this month launched a radio station to help Mosul residents stay safe during the offensive. The radio is broadcasting from Qayyara, a town 60 kms (about 40 miles) south of Mosul, where the army is massing forces ahead of the offensive. Qayyara has also an airfield that will be used as a hub by the US-led coalition to support the offensive in which Kurdish Peshmerga and Sunni tribal fighters are expected to take part. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has not yet made it clear whether Iranian- backed Shi’ite paramilitary units will participate in the offensive on the mainly Sunni city.
Local Sunni politicians and regional Sunni-majority states including Turkey and Saudi Arabia have cautioned that letting Shi’ite militias take part in assault could lead to sectarian bloodletting. A suicide bomber struck a gathering of Shiite mourners in Baghdad Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding another 12, Iraqi officials said, as government troops prepared for a decisive battle to drive the Islamic State extremist group from the major northern city of Mosul. The attack took place in Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated Jadriyah neighborhood on the Tigris River, where the explosive-laden bomber approached Shiites commemorating the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a police officer said. A medical official confirmed the toll. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information to the press. The IS militants claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement carried by the IS-linked Aamaq news agency.
The claim could not be independently verified. Saudi Arabia on Sunday replaced its envoy to Iraq whose comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs led to diplomatic tension with Baghdad. Thamer al-Sabhan in 2015 became the first Saudi ambassador to be posted to Iraq since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait — an appointment which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia. But in August Iraq asked Riyadh to replace Sabhan after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shi’ite Muslim politicians and militia leaders. Sabhan was appointed minister for Arab Gulf Affairs, a newly created position, according to state news agency SPA.
He will be replaced by Abdulaziz al-Shamri, Riyadh’s military attache in Germany, who will be appointed as the charge d’affaires to the Saudi embassy in Baghdad, Sabhan said on his Twitter account on Friday. Iraqi Shi’ite politicians and militias had made repeated calls to expel Sabhan, who has been calling on the Iraqi government to exclude Shi’ite paramilitary groups from its military campaign against Islamic State in order to avoid abuses against Sunnis in Iraq. Baghdad’s move underscores the depth of enmity between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim powers as sectarian conflicts rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
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