Laurent Van der Stockt

The battle to liberate the second largest city in Iraq from the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) began in October 2016, and at the time of writing, in June 2017, was still continuing: more than nine months taking up the perilous military challenge of ridding the city of ISIS fighters, including thousands of jihadis willing to die in combat, and at a time, when, at the beginning of operations, between 1 and 1.5 million people were still living in the city.

In a country where virtually everything that should work has collapsed under the pressure of inequality, corruption and religious rivalry, the people recognized the authority of the Counter-Terrorism Service special forces, answering directly to the Prime Minister and not to the Minister of Defense. Here were soldiers who had been waging war against ISIS for three years, ever since the leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate in June 2014. In the cities of Ramadi, Hīt and Fallujah, and in Anbar province, they distinguished themselves as professional soldiers, showing respect for all Iraqis from all religious groups and communities, far more than had been the case with any other military corps. In Mosul they were the key forces gaining entry and control of the western half of the city. Unlike the situation in Syria, when Raqqa was attacked with white phosphorus munitions, airstrikes by the international coalition before ground attacks were usually sparing and accurate, so as not to make what was already a human disaster even worse. Troops moved ahead cautiously to save as many civilians as possible, and still some 200,000 have been displaced and large numbers killed and wounded.