Both Sides Are Using Drones In The Battle For Mosul

Soldiers from the Iraqi Special Forces launch a small drone from a rooftop to look for Islamic State group fighters hiding themselves in the Aden district of Mosul. Their Islamic State opponents have also been using drones during the battle. Photo: AFP

South China Morning Post/Reuters: The Islamic State is using drones to attack Iraqi army in Mosul

Islamic State has been using drones to attack Iraqi troops advancing in the northern city of Mosul, the militant group’s last major urban stronghold in country, the military said on Thursday.

Iraqi forces, with air and ground support from a US-led coalition, launched an offensive on October17 to retake Mosul in the most complex campaign in Iraq since the US-led 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Troops have been fighting inside eastern Mosul since the start of the month.

Army officers showed journalists several drones looking like model aircraft which they said the group had built to scout out targets or launch attacks.

“These drones were found in one of the houses (retaken by the army),” Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saidi of Iraq’s US-trained Counter Terrorism Service told reporters at a military headquarters in a Mosul suburb.

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Update: 'We have our eyes on every inch of Mosul': Inside Rocket City, where US drones monitor Isil's every move (The Telegraph)

WNU Editor: This is going to be the new normal on how most conflicts will be fought.