抖阴短视频

SALAHUDDIN, Iraq: Iraqi forces are expected to face much fiercer resistance from Daesh in the next phase of the battle for Mosul, including booby traps that can blow up entire neighborhoods, the top Kurdish security official said on Sunday.
Masrour Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government鈥檚 (KRG) Security Council, said that even if Daesh is driven out of its main stronghold Mosul, that will not be enough to eliminate the group, and its radical ideology will survive.
鈥淭he fight against ISIS is going to be a long fight,鈥� Barzani told Reuters. 鈥淣ot only militarily but also economically, ideologically.鈥�
He spoke as Iraq鈥檚 special forces worked Sunday to clear neighborhoods on the eastern edge of Mosul as bombings launched by the extremist group elsewhere in the country killed at least 20 people.
鈥淭here are a lot of civilians and we are trying to protect them,鈥� said Lt. Col. Muhanad Al-Timimi.
鈥淭his is one of the hardest battles that we鈥檝e faced till now.鈥�
Barzani also said that Iraqi forces have made quick progress clearing out terrorists from eastern Mosul after Kurdish peshmerga units broke through its first lines of defense.
鈥淎s they are getting more desperate, expectations are that they might fight more fiercely as you close in,鈥� said Barzani, 47, son of veteran Kurdish leader and KRG President Masoud Barzani. So far in the three-week operation, Daesh has deployed drones strapped with explosives, long-range artillery shells filled with chlorine and mustard gas and highly effective snipers, said Barzani. Kurdish forces have destroyed more than 50 car bombs.
And he cautioned that western Mosul will be a more complex campaign, with a vast number of narrow streets that can鈥檛 accommodate large military vehicles and an enemy that will fight to the death to defend the capital of its so-called caliphate.
鈥淭here are many different IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that they put in different places, come up with different tactics. Many that are used like networks,鈥� Barzani said.
鈥淪o in one house they are putting one IED and trying to hide it. And once it explodes then the entire neighborhood explodes.鈥�
The Mosul campaign is the most critical land battle in Iraq since a US-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iraqi leaders are also under pressure to ensure that the offensive does not inflame sectarian tensions in Mosul and in the country as a whole.
That鈥檚 why Shiite militias and Kurdish peshmerga forces are not fighting inside Mosul, although some Iraqi forces who are taking part have been flying Shiite banners on their vehicles, an act that has angered Sunni residents.
Barzani called on Iraq鈥檚 complex patchwork of sects and ethnic communities to set aside their political differences or risk long-term instability.
When the Daesh seized Mosul in 2014, some members of that minority sect supported the group after accusing the government of widespread discrimination, an allegation it denied.
鈥淲inning the peace after winning the war is equally important,鈥� said Barzani.
鈥淭he number one point to prevent the rise of terrorist and radical organizations is to make sure there is political reconciliation and a political agreement among all the components so that no one will feel like an outcast.鈥�
The KRG鈥檚 counter-terrorism forces and intelligence agencies report to Barzani, 47, son of veteran Kurdish leader and KRG President Masoud Barzouni. As a teenager, Masrour joined the peshmerga, who were fighting Saddam Hussein at the time.
Some 35,000 Daesh terrorists have been killed inside Iraq yet there are still tens of thousands arrayed against the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga, said Barzani.
鈥淓very day, every week, every month they are trying to recruit new people, new fighters are joining,鈥� he said, though he added the numbers have recently decreased.
Hundreds of Daesh terrorists have been caught trying to disguise themselves as displaced Iraqis since the Mosul campaign began on Oct. 17, said Barzani.
The world鈥檚 most feared and violent militant group has tried to set up sleeper cells in Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, and elsewhere, in order to try and divert attention away from the Mosul campaign.
鈥淲e have captured a number of sleeping cells, or people that were disguised as IDPs (internally displaced people). Hundreds of them actually,鈥� Barzani said.
Daesh terrorists, who have been fighting Iraqi forces, are mosty Iraqis but there are also significant numbers of foreign fighters from other parts of the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa, said Barzani.
鈥淲e do believe that Daesh is the byproduct, is the result of a political failure, the political system that failed in this country,鈥� he said.