The Fight For Mosul Is Far From Over

Andrew Doran, NRO: Bulletin from Mosul — the Mission Is Still Far from Accomplished

ISIS has been driven from from its former stronghold, but the city is in ruin, and the scourge of Islamic terrorism persists in the region.

‘Something’s going on in the Old City,” said the Iraqi fixer, jumping off the phone with another fixer already in Mosul.We were a two-vehicle SUV convoy, mostly journalists and fixers, headed into the city, where, on Sunday, Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory — perhaps an ominous gesture. Other pockets of ISIS remain in Iraq, such as in Talafar, and of course in Syria. On a national holiday in Iraq, many Iraqi soldiers were casualties. “Maybe that report about the 300 Daesh was right.”

The University of Mosul is among the first of ISIS’s cultural casualties one sees on entering East Mosul, where many residents still live. It was here in 2014 that Mahmoud al-Asali, a Muslim law professor, was reportedly killed for condemning ISIS’s treatment of Christians. It was here that the mosque built over Jonah’s tomb was destroyed in a campaign of cultural genocide, which preceded a campaign of genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and others.

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WNU Editor: Like all battles .... there are always a few who will survive .... hiding in the rubble .... only to pop-up a few days later. This is going to take a while. The above video report is a must see from NBC's Richard Engel on the last days of fighting before the liberation of Mosul.