Mosul // Iraqi forces battled towards a key bridge in west Mosul on Sunday in an operation aimed setting up a route for reinforcements from the eastern half of the city that has already been retaken from ISIL.
“We had an important operation this morning to move towards the bridge,” said Colonel Falah Al Wabdan, from the interior ministry’s Rapid Response units that have spearheaded the breach into west Mosul, in the Jawsaq neighbourhood.
“We have moved past a large berm constructed by Daesh with tunnels underneath,” he said, adding that the area was heavily mined and that his forces had killed 44 extremists on Sunday alone.
Col Al Wabdan was referring to what is known as “the fourth bridge”, the southernmost of five bridges – all of which are damaged and unusable – across the Tigris river that divides the northern Iraqi city.
Government forces made steady progress in the week since they launched a major push on the western side of the city, where an estimated 2,000 ISIL fighters are holding out and 750,000 civilians are trapped.
Troops have already captured the southern and western accesses to western Mosul, dislodging militants from the airport, a military base, a power station and one residential district, Al Maamun, according to the military.
Commanders say they will soon complete the recapture of two other residential districts, Al Tayyaran and Jawsaq.
Col Al Wabdan said that securing the bank area near the fourth bridge would allow the army to build a floating bridge to the other side and increase pressure on the extremists.
“It is very important because if we take it, engineering units ... will be able to throw a bridge across from the left bank so we can move supplies and ammunition from the battlefield,” he said.
Bridging operations under fire are complex and perilous but Iraqi forces have been trained by the US military and successfully used that strategy before in the fight against ISIL.
A floating bridge assembled with US assistance over the Euphrates River was considered a turning point in the battle that eventually saw Iraqi forces retake the western city of Ramadi from ISIL a year ago.
Troops from the US-led coalition helping Iraq to take back territory seized by ISIL in 2014 have stepped up their involvement on the ground in recent weeks.
They are officially deployed in Iraq as trainers and advisers but have increasingly been drawn into combat and been more visible than ever on the front lines since the push on west Mosul was launched on February 19.
The western side of the city is a little smaller than the east but more densely populated and home to some areas considered traditional extremist strongholds.
It includes the Old City, where ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi made his only public appearance and proclaimed a “caliphate” in July 2014, and several of Mosul’s key landmarks.
Iraqi commanders expect the battle to be more difficult as they get closer to the old city in part because tanks and armoured vehicles cannot pass through its narrow alleyways.
Civilians trapped in west Mosul have in some cases been used as human shields by the extremists as they defend their last major bastion in Iraq.
“With the battle to retake western Mosul now in its second week, we are extremely concerned about the 800,000 or so still trapped in some of the most dire conditions,” said Karl Schembri, spokesman for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Food supplies have dwindled as fast as costs have soared, leaving many surviving on barely a meal a day.
Residents and medical workers say that the combined effect of malnutrition and the shortage of drugs is starting to kill the weakest.
The United Nations has planned for an exodus of at least 250,000 people from west Mosul but, in the absence of humanitarian corridors, only a few hundred have been able to flee so far.
* Agence France-Presse and Reuters
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Command%20Z
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
