Major Abbasi remembers an ominous atmosphere in Mosul in the days and weeks before fighting erupted on June 6, 2014, when ISIS began a lightning assault on Iraq’s second city that shocked the world.
“Intelligence indicated that the militants planned to cross the border from Syria and join sleeper cells in Nineveh,” the military officer told The National, adding that local leaders did not take serious measures or inform Baghdad.
In early June, extremists started attacking the Iraqi army and Federal Police on the western side of Mosul.
“Their attacks were not the usual hit-and-run tactic, but they were advancing,” said Maj Abbasi, whose name has been changed because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Mosul fell to ISIS on June 10.
Five days earlier, security forces declared a curfew and on June 7, Baghdad sent the Defence Ministry's deputy chief of staff, Aboud Qanbar, and the commander of the ground forces, Ali Ghaidan, to assess the situation.
Then the operational commander of Nineveh Province, Lt Gen Mahdi Gharawi ordered soldiers to shell neighbourhoods under ISIS control.
Lt Gen Gharawi was in the widely disliked Federal Police, a force residents accused of brutality, sectarianism and corruption.
The shelling “didn’t work, hundreds of militants kept flocking to the city and outnumbered our troops", Maj Abbasi said.
“It became obvious that we lost the battle in the western part, especially when we heard and saw on TV how some of the residents welcomed the militants and how a number of security forces joined them," he added.
Maj Abbasi’s remark about being outnumbered jars with the strength of the Iraqi army at the time, at least on paper. Mosul was defended by the 2nd Army Division and the 3rd Federal Police Division.
South of the city, Kirkuk and nearby towns were overseen by the 4th and 12th army divisions.
These units should have had a combined strength of about 40,000, far more than the estimated 4,000 ISIS fighters.
But the Iraqi forces largely crumbled, with the exception of some tenacious groups that fought on for several days.
Years of resentment
Like many overwhelmingly Sunni cities, Mosul was a hotbed for insurgency in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the dictator Saddam Hussein.
After Mosul fell to US forces, many Moslawis perceived them to be pro-Kurdish. Kurdish Peshmerga forces entered the city alongside the US troops and were accused of trying to establish security dominance.
Attempts to install a representative local government broke down due to the US policy of de-Baathification, under which members of local government were removed for their association with Saddam's Baath party. Former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki, in office from 2006 to 2014, was a champion of this policy.
After a brief period of relative calm as troops led by former US general David Petraeus took over operations in the city – working closely with local governors – militant groups soon re-established themselves, particularly in the city’s western side.
Many army officers linked to the Saddam regime lived in the city’s west, with its historic Old Town and famed Al Habda minaret.
Attacks on Iraqi security forces and US troops occurred almost daily, sometimes leading to the control of some areas by the militants for hours or during the night, to leave in the morning.
Iraqi security forces imposed strict security measures inside the city, arresting suspects and closing roads. Some residents accused them of using the war against the militants to extort money from businesses and arrest innocent people.
Police brutality
Some of these practices are still etched in the memory of the residents.
“I saw with my own eyes how an army lieutenant ordered a man in his forties to get out of his car only to lash him three times with a hose, accusing him of not complying to stop at the checkpoint,” Nadhim Mohammed Al Zubaidi, 68, told The National.
“Can you imagine the deep-seated resentment that resulted from these acts?” he said, sitting inside his tools and construction materials shop in the heart of Mosul’s Old City. The residents were under pressure.”
Maj Abbasi, who served in the city from 2006 until its fall to ISIS, acknowledged that the security forces failed to win the hearts of the community.
“The relation between Mosul residents and the security forces was tense,” he said. “Yes, there were provocative practices by some field leaders and their soldiers in streets and markets.
“All that made Mosul a hotbed for different militant groups – even those who are not directly involved with them sympathised with them and just wanted anyone other than Baghdad-run security forces.”
Among these practices, he added, was the widespread arrests of suspects, who were later released in return for payment, and extorting money from merchants for letting lorries through checkpoints.
ISIS was simultaneously raising funds through protection rackets and the black market.
Corroded by corruption
Lax discipline within the security forces was exacerbated by corruption, particularly the problem of “ghost soldiers” who paid their officers half their salaries and in return did not show up for duty.
One brigade defending Mosul was meant to number 2,500, but it had only 500 men.
On June 9, commanders began to flee in a bitter blow to the morale of their troops.
Qanbar and Ghaidan left Mosul for the Kurdistan region of Iraq, leaving Gharawi with a handful of soldiers in the operational command in the city's east. He, too, left for Kurdistan the next day.
Nawzad Al Haji was one of the soldiers guarding one the main gates of the complex of Saddam's presidential palaces that housed the headquarters of various security factions when an officer told them to leave.
“The officer told us: ‘What are you doing here? All officers and leaders left and you are still here? They [militants] come and kill you. Run away,'” Mr Al Haji recalled.
The soldiers took off their uniforms, put on civilian clothes and managed to blend in with families fleeing the city.
Mosul's residents were shocked by how quickly the security forces evaporated.
Mr Al Zubaidi recalled being at home around noon when he heard militants telling residents through the loudspeakers of Al Nouri Mosque to stay in their homes and not to open fire.
“I rushed outside to check on my store and found pickup trucks of the nearby police station ablaze, the doors wide open and no one, officers and policemen, there,” he recalled.
“There were, like, 100 policemen, where did they go? All evaporated.”
Small but deadly force
Iraqi security sources who spoke to The National emphasised how, while ISIS in Iraq may not have been powerful, they formed convenient alliances with several anti-government groups, arming and gaining experience in the war in neighbouring Syria.
“Expansion allowed ISIS to amass resources, territory and fighters in both Syria and Iraq,” an Interior Ministry intelligence officer said.
“It started to attract those who were disappointed with Al Qaeda’s failure, offering them the caliphate as a new model of governing. The caliphate idea resonated globally, attracting foreign fighters.”
At that time, ISIS adopted new strategies and tactics.
“ISIS also made the most of social media for propaganda and recruitment that further augmented its ranks and influence,” the intelligence officer said.
Among groups briefly allied to ISIS were the Naqshbandi Order, formed by Saddam's right-hand man Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri, the Islamic Army and the 1920s Revolution Brigades.
However, these agreements collapsed weeks after ISIS’s successful offensive. Soon enemies and early sympathisers alike were terrified by the group’s rise.
It published high-quality videos of well-co-ordinated attacks against security forces and raids on the homes of officers or tribal sheikhs aligned with Baghdad. Scenes of beheadings and shootings were essential elements of these videos, to further break their opponents' morale.
ISIS also increased operations by its elite troops, known as the Inghemasiyoun – Arabic for “those who immerse themselves”.
They would infiltrate their targets, unleashing mayhem and fighting to the death, wearing explosive belts to blow themselves up among their opponents.
Such attacks, like the case of a suicide bomber who walked into an Iraqi general’s house in 2013 but was shot before he could detonate explosives, were near impossible to stop. The general survived the first attack, 60km west of Mosul, only for a second bomber to kill him and three guards.
A decade later, such attacks are almost unheard of. The vast majority of ISIS fighters died during the government campaign that ultimately defeated them in 2017, while communities where they sought shelter during the war have rejected their brutality.
Tailor Mahmoud Thanoon said extremism that plagued his hometown of Mosul after 2003 was one of the main factors that led to the events of 2014.
“I think extremism in Mosul is gone now, people realise now who’s the friend and who’s the enemy,” said Mr Thanoon, who has lost three sons in Iraq's conflicts since 2003.
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
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match info
Maratha Arabians 138-2
C Lynn 91*, A Lyth 20, B Laughlin 1-15
Team Abu Dhabi 114-3
L Wright 40*, L Malinga 0-13, M McClenaghan 1-17
Maratha Arabians won by 24 runs
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
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Brighton 1
Gross (50' pen)
Tottenham 1
Kane (48)
The five pillars of Islam
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Read more about the coronavirus
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The five pillars of Islam
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