28 October 2014

In Mosul yesterday, a university professor and his son were publicly executed in the Shifa'a district of western Mosul by ISIL gunmen. Our sources reported that the professor and his son were detained 3 months ago and they were killed in a public square without explanation.

Also yesterday, ISIL arrested 7 journalists in a number of districts. They were taken to unknown locations, again without any explanation. They had not been working, but journalists are usually held responsible for news filtering out of Mosul, based simply on suspicion and not on any evidence.

Peshmerga forces are still advancing in Zummar, but their progress is hampered by the ubiquitous mines and IED's along the roads leading to Zummar and its surroundings.

Mosul is its twentieth consecutive day of darkness because of the failed power supply.

22 October 2014

Our sources are reporting that 7 ISIL gunmen have been killed in a clash with the forces protecting Sinjar. ISIL and Peshmarga forces have also clashed in Al-Khazir, east of Mosul, in which 4 gunmen have been killed.

Mosul activists are warning of the spread of disease, as the city's residents have been using river water. The lack of potable water is now in its 7th day and has affected the city's industries as well as its citizens.

The Kirkuk passport office has allocated Saturdays for dealing with the large numbers of Mosul migrants in Kirkuk.

21 October 2014

Our sources in Mosul are reporting that an army colonel Mohammed Hassouni Al-Juburi and his son were killed yesterday in Hammam Al-Alil by ISIL gunmen. The victim resisted the attack and was able to kill 3 of the attackers before he and his son were killed.

Peshmarga forces yesterday repelled an ISIL attack in the Rabee'a area, and another on the Mosul plains.

ISIL is now confiscating empty houses in Mosul that have been abandoned by their owners. The homes are being used for storing ammunition, IED production, and for housing some ISIL personnel.

Nineveh Traffic Police officers yesterday called on the central government to pay their salaries for the last 4 months.

According to our sources, most of the privately-owned electricity generators have stopped operating as a result of the city-wide water shortage that has affected for the last 11 days, and an electricity shortage for the last 6 days. Acticists are warning of the spread of diseases as a result of the water shortages.

Mosul students who are taking their exams in Kirkuk are complaining about the difficulty of the exams themselves and the difficulties they face in securing accommodation.

20 October 2014

Our Mosul sources are telling us that airstrikes have been continuing on the Zummar township area, killing 17 ISIL gunmen and wounding 20, in addition to destroying a number of their vehicles.

Yesterday, ISIL arrested 10 security commanders who had held positions in the Iraqi army before the fall of Mosul. The men - even though they had declared their 'repentance' when ISIL took the city - were arrested in villages south of Mosul; the reason for their arrest is unknown.

According to our sources, there has been public approval in Mosul over the appointment of Khaled Al-Obaidi - who is from Mosul - as the Minister of Defense. Hopes are being expressed that this move will bolster the question of liberating the city.

Two ISIL gunmen were killed yesterday by the Mosul Brigades who are resisting ISIL's occupation of their city.

Rain has been falling in Mosul for three consecutive days, resulting in flooding in a number of the city's districts; drainage has been hampered by the partial shutdown of the city's power- distribution network.

Many families spent the night out in the open, fearing that the rain might bring down their tents. Theses displaced families are calling on the Kurdistan Region and the central government to provide them with caravan-style homes to replace their tents.

In Mosul, the absence of running water and electricity has become the norm for the city's residents: water is being supplied for one hour every other day. The Mosul Provincial Council, and particularly its member, Husam Al-Abbar, yesterday called on the Kurdistan Region and the government to allow the Electrical Maintenance teams to go to the Mosul Dam to repair the damage to the power generating systems, given that the area is still being contested by both ISIL and the security forces. Clashes between the two sides have been preventing the teams from reaching the dam area.

16 October 2014

The Nineveh Governor, Atheel Al-Nujaifi, has affirmed that he has received guarantees from the central government and the National Security Adviser, Faleh Al-Fayadh, that the Nineveh operations command would not be reconstituted, and that reliance would be on the National Guard and the local police.

Nineveh Council member, Nawfal Al-Sultan, has confirmed that there are 3 candidates for the Nineveh Police commander position: Khaled Al-Hamdani, Awad Al-Sorachi, and Wathiq Al-Hamdani; their names will be on the table during the next Nineveh Council meeting. The Council has been convening and operating from outside the Province where it meets regularly once a week.

The Mosul Brigades yesterday killed an ISIL gunman using silenced weapons, while he was driving his car along the Mosul-Qayara road.

Mosul farmers have renewed their call on the Agricultural Ministry to defer the payments on their loans, due to the circumstances they are facing.

Yesterday, some Mosul districts have had their water supply partially restored following the damage caused to the high-tension cables providing electrical power to the city's pumping stations.

School administrations in Nineveh Province have changed the school weekend from Friday and Saturday to Thursday and Friday.

15 October 2014

Our sources in Mosul are telling us that the Mosul Battalions were able to kill 2 ISIL gunmen in the Hirmat area west of Mosul using silenced weapons.

Coalition airstrikes are continuing on ISIL groups near the Mosul Dam, damaging some high-tension electric power cables which led to the shutdown of the dam's water pumps. This has resulted in major water shortages in Mosul. Sources are telling us that the city's hospitals are some of the most affected.

ISIL has introduced a ban on Mosul residents wanting to leave the city without a guarantor for their return within 10 days. This applies in particular to young men who might join the training camps that are trying to mobilize as many Mosul residents as possible in preparation for the liberation of their city from the ISIL presence.

The ISIL educational authority - acting as an education ministry - yesterday issued instructions to all of the schools in Mosul, designating the first day of the Islamic month of Muharram as the first day of the school year. The instructions demanded of school administrators to list the names of students who do not attend school. Also, a committee is to be formed to transfer students from the abolished College of Fine Arts to other colleges. ISIL has already shut down the various branches of the Fine Arts Institute, and has changed its name to the Institute of Calligraphy and Etching.

14 October 2014

Sources have confirmed that coalition warplanes yesterday struck targets south of Mosul; about 22 ISIL gunmen were killed.

Also yesterday, ISIL personnel abducted a number of journalists from Mosul; there has been an announcement that one of them, Muhannad Al-Ugaili, has been executed.

The Nineveh police commander, Khaled Al-Hamdani, announced yesterday that the Interior Ministry has approved the back salaries of police personnel who have reported to the training camp located near the Kurdistan Region where they will train for the liberation of Mosul. 5,000 personnel reported to the camp yesterday and it was announced that they would be paid their back salaries, as an incentive for others to report for training.

ISIL yesterday forbade students from Mosul - who wanted to take their exams in Kirkuk - to leave the city, fearing that they might join the resistance camps outside Mosul. They only allowed those who could designate a guarantor of their return following their exams in Kirkuk.

Civil services in Mosul are almost nonexistent; the streets are strewn with garbage because municipal workers have been slow in removing the piles of rubbish, a situation that has been ongoing ever since the fall of the city.

08 October 2014

Firstly, we have a report that we have not yet been able to verify: that ISIL has executed 19 people, including the former (woman) parliamentarian Iman Muhammad Yunis al-Salman; according to our source, her parents have been told about her execution by ISIL.

Yesterday, airstrikes were carried out in Tell Afar and Rabi'a, killing and wounding many ISIL gunmen; our sources say that the Mosul Hospital received many dead and wounded, and there have been calls by ISIL for blood donations.

Federal and Peshmerga forces have been advancing to liberate the villages around Rabi'a, but the advance has been slow because of the booby traps the gunmen have set along the roads and within houses and any above-ground structure.

The head of the Nineveh Council, Bashar al-Kiki, announced that a volunteer military force is to be formed in the province in order to liberate it from ISIL's presence.

Yesterday, ISIL issued a statement calling on Christians and Yazidis to return to Mosul, provided that they adopt Islam as their religion; they would then not have to pay the proscribed bounty.

Yesterday in Mosul there was some cautious activity by its residents who have been almost continuously staying at home because of the security situation.

07 October 2014

Our sources say that 25 ISIL gunmen were killed yesterday in airstrikes on the Zummar, Badush, and Eski Kelek areas. Meanwhile, drones are continuing their flights over Mosul, and the citizens there are welcoming the advances being made by central government security forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga in Rabi'a and Zummar.

However, the people of Mosul are fearful of possible reprisals, should Mosul be liberated. These fears are being stoked on Facebook, with warnings of reprisals against Mosul residents, by the Yazidis for example. Most likely is that ISIL is behind these warnings and allegations.

06 October 2014

ISIL has distributed a statement in Mosul, demanding that doctors and university educators who have left Mosul must return within 10 days to take up their duties.

This is a part of the threat issued to all who have left Mosul; ISIL has deemed them all as being in violation of Shari'a law and must be punished accordingly.

ISIL is very concerned with medical issues; even with regard to exams, they have fixed exam dates between October 11 and October 23 strictly for medical students; medical institutes, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, etc.  We don't why they are emphasizing these fields: they may have more to gain from them, and they have not shown an interest in the other science subjects.

Sources are saying that some merchants and businessmen in Mosul have been permitted to import fuel and some foodstuffs, using their personal contacts, from Kurdistan and elsewhere, in order to cover the needs of Nineveh Province.

The available gasoline that has been imported from Turkey and Syria is inferior in quality and has damaged many vehicles, not to mention its being very expensive. One liter of this inferior gasoline now costs 1,750 Dinars (i.e. some 1.50 US dollars). That is why they have allowed some merchants to import from Kurdistan but we don't know if they will succeed.

Regarding the security situation in the province, ISIL yesterday executed 12 civilian tribal members from Qayrawan following their being held for five days after being abducted.

A coalition airstrike targeted a gathering of ISIL personnel in Sinjar, killing a number of the gunmen.

02 October 2014

Yesterday, ISIL members arrested the pediatrician Ghalib Shakir (a man), the Nineveh Prosecutor-General Ibtihal al-Khiyali (a woman), and an elder of the Jubur tribes Qayyara, Fawwaz Abdul-Aziz. The reasons for the arrests are not known.

Archeologists in Nineveh are warning of the danger posed by ISIL on Nineveh's archeological treasures, following the theft and smuggling of some of them. They are also warning of the effects of air strikes on archeological sites.

Warplanes have dropped leaflets over Mosul that call on the public to stay away from ISIL locations, in advance of airstrikes to be launched against them.

01 October 2014

According to our sources in Mosul, security forces are advancing following the liberation of Rabi'a and its surrounding villages. The local Mosul Brigades resisting the ISIL gunmen within Mosul have killed one gunman in each of Salamiya and Qayyarah.

The Mosul Council met yesterday in a Mosul suburb adopted a number of decisions: to call on the Iraqi Parliament to issue smart cards to displaced people that would enable them to receive the one million Dinar grant without any (administrative) problems or delays. Also, teachers who have migrated from Mosul have called for their salaries to be transferred to Kurdistan, following ISIL threats to confiscate the salaries of all employees who have fled from Mosul and whom they consider to be cowardly and liable to having their funds confiscated. Many Mosul police personnel are also calling for their salaries to be paid.

30 September 2014

Yesterday, southern Mosul was targeted for the first time by British warplanes, killing - according to our sources - 9 ISIL gunmen. There were also clashes yesterday between a newly-formed Yazidi resistance group and ISIL gunmen, killing 10 gunmen and 3 Yazidis.

Yesterday the Mosul Provincial Council held its first meeting in Alqosh. The Council called for formulating a plan to liberate Mosul, for speeding up the formation of the National Guard, while calling on Parliament to consider the Yazidi victims on a par with the victims of Camp Speicher.

A U.S. airstrike on Makhmur yesterday - presumably relying on advance intelligence - killed a number of ISIL personnel who had gathered in the targeted location.

There has been a negative public reaction regarding new ISIL regulations imposing bounty payments disguised as Islamic 'Zakat' contributions. ISIL authorities have also begun leasing government buildings and property. Meanwhile, fuel prices are still rising in anticipation of the winter season.

29 September 2014

Reconnaissance flights are continuing over Mosul, and strikes have been targeted on Guwayr, east of Mosul, according to our sources. The strikes have killed or wounded about 50 ISIL personnel.

The Mosul Brigades, a resistance group within Mosul, yesterday killed an ISIL gunman responsible for making explosive devices at his home.

With regard to services in the city, there is widespread disdain for the near-absence of any services and for the lack of basic supplies in the city.

Sources among the public are expressing concern over the approach of winter amid the fuel shortages. The available fuel is of low quality and expensive, with prices gradually increasing: the price of a barrel of heating fuel has reached 300,000 Dinars - a very high price when compared to prices in Baghdad and elsewhere. Mosul citizens are also fearful of the (possible) liberation of the city before winter. Buying and selling in Mosul is at a standstill, particularly that of cars and homes, with many of those who have money fearful of spending it. They are also concerned that buying a car or a home will be concluded using improper documentation, given the fact that the whole situation is unstable and out of the ordinary.

25 September 2014

Reconnaissance flights are still being carried out in the skies over Mosul, while ISIL forces are still trying, so far unsuccessfully, to target the aircraft.

Refugees sheltering in camps have called on Mosul parliamentarians and on the governor to relinquish their posts, accusing them of being responsible for their tragic plight. For example, Mosul citizens are being supplied with electricity for 2 hours every 5 days.
There has also been public outrage over the abduction, torture, and murder by ISIL gunmen of the activist Samira Al-Nu'aimy. She was murdered because of her opposition to ISIL's actions. She had previously also opposed U.S. forces' actions and was widely reported to have offered her free representation of prisoners. She never relented in her efforts, but this time she has been silenced by ISIL. Her body was delivered to her family with a warning not to seek any public condolences. Our sources tell us that she had become a respected and popular public figure in Mosul without any political affiliations or self-serving interests.

Our sources also say that ISIL, prior to the Paris Conference, was engaged in their 'normal' activities, but these have since been escalated into a heavy mobile and pedestrian presence in the city by ISIL gunmen with their beards and Afghan-style clothing in what is being seen by the public as psychological terror.

24 September 2014

The sources are telling us that some aircraft - presumed to be unmanned drones - carried out reconnaissance flights over the city yesterday. The planes were fired upon by ISIL anti-air weapons.

Also yesterday, the 'Mosul Brigades' claimed responsibility for killing 2 ISIL gunmen in the Wahda district, using silenced weapons. The overall atmosphere in Mosul is one of welcome for the operations being carried out by the international community, but people are calling on the coalition forces to preserve the impartiality of civilians by taking care in their targeting and its accuracy. It is a known fact that ISIL gunmen are dispersed among the civilians and their homes.

Meanwhile, the economic situation here is still burdensome on the citizens of Mosul; the most severe shortages are of fuel, with the available fuel being of very low quality coming from Turkey and Syria and being sold at very high prices. The same applies to cooking fuel.

23 September 2014

Our  sources say that the head Nineveh Governorate Council, Bashar al-Kiki, announced yesterday that the Council is to hold a meeting in Alqosh, a suburb of Mosul that has not fallen into ISIL hands. The date of the meeting, to be attended by the Governor, has not yet been fixed. It will be important in that it will discuss the ways and means to support the Province and to liberate it from the ISIL gunmen.

Also yesterday, 3 ISIL gunmen were killed in the western Mosul district of Al-Nahrawan. They were occupying a house belonging to a family that has been displaced. They were targeted by the Mosul resistance using silenced weapons.

A Mosul member of parliament, Mahasin al-Hamdun, announced a new mechanism for disbursing the 1 million Dinar aid for each displaced family. She says that the new system would not require a trip to Baghdad, but would be dealt with via documentation only. There had been many complaints about the existing system that has been plagued by favoritism and interventionism, whereas the new system will be easier and simpler. She also announced that long-delayed government salaries, especially in the Oil Ministry, would be paid.

The Nineveh Agricultural Directorate has been ordered by the Agriculture Ministry to indefinitely postpone the  repayment of loans by farmers whose crops have been hit by water shortages.

18 September 2014

With regard to the Mosul security situation, U.S. air missions  are continuing; a strike targeted an ISIL position in Sinjar. Sources say that the warplanes destroyed five vehicles in the area.

Liberation operations by joint government and Peshmarga forces succeeded yesterday in liberating 5 villages near Khazir.

Within Mosul, the resistance is using snipers in targeting the ISIL gunmen. Yesterday, a gunman has shot dead an ISIL member in the Nur neighborhood.

ISIL members met yesterday with education supervisors of Nineveh Governorate who were informed to remove passages from literature, history, and poetry texts. This also included Darwin's evolution theory and any subject that conflicts with the teaching syllabuses they want to impose. This has come just as the new school year gets underway, and it is clear that their emphasis is on scientific subjects, such as geometry and physics and anything else that might serve ISIL's interests. The ISIL representatives warned teachers of punishment if they do not adhere to their instructions.

Many Mosul students are rushing to respond to Education Ministry calls for registration by way of submitting their exam forms through the internet as a temporary measure, until the Ministry can maybe ask them to go to Kirkuk to sit for their exams.