They're called the Mosul Liberation Battalions, comprised of former military officers, tribesmen, students, and businessmen, and Iraq's vice president said they are behind more than 300 attacks against ISIS in Mosul and Nineveh Province.
Osama al-Nujaifi told NBC News that the relatively unknown battalions are targeting ISIS fighters on a daily basis and have killed senior leaders. Mosul fell to ISIS in June, making it impossible to get any weapons into the city, so the fighters have to use whatever they can find. "All their operations are planned and implemented according to resources they have," al-Nujaifi said.
The resistance movement's operations include sniper attacks, blasts using homemade bombs, and raids on weapons-storage sites. Reinforcements are in the area, al-Nujaifi said, with 3,000 soldiers close to Mosul's borders. "Soldiers are in high spirits, waiting to be involved in the battle to liberate Mosul," he said. "They have all motives to liberate their lands."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Should Labour break manifesto pledge and raise taxes?Today's Big Question There are ‘powerful’ fiscal arguments for an income tax rise but it could mean ‘game over’ for the government
-
Nigerian Modernism: an ‘entrancing, enlightening exhibition’The Week Recommends Tate Modern’s ‘revelatory’ show includes 250 works examining Nigerian art pre- and post independence
-
To the point: the gender divide over exclamation marksTalking Point 'Men harbouring urges to be more exclamative' can finally take a breath – this is what using the punctuation really conveys
-
British warship repels 'largest Houthi attack to date' in the Red SeaSpeed read Western allies warn of military response to Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels if attacks on ships continue
-
Houthi rebels claim Red Sea ship attacksspeed read Iran-backed Yemeni group vows to escalate aggression towards Israel-linked vessels in revenge for Gaza war
-
Israel plans next phase of Gaza war as first hostages releasedSpeed read After four-day ceasefire 'we will not stop' until destruction of Hamas, says Israel
-
Mob storms Russian airport 'looking for Jews'Speed Read Plane from Israel surrounded by rioters chanting antisemitic slogans after landing in Russia's Dagestan region
-
Tuberville's military promotions block is upending lives, combat readiness, 3 military branch chiefs saySpeed Read
-
Ukraine's counteroffensive is making incremental gains. Does it matter in the broader war?Speed Read
-
US commissions first-ever Navy ship in a foreign portSpeed Read
-
British spy chief, Wagner video suggest Prigozhin is alive and freely 'floating around'Speed Read
