Mosul: "Al Qaeda's last urban stronghold"

The US-Iraqi drive to oust Al Qaeda from Mosul is well underway, even if the fighting isn't dramatic. Checkpoints have cut off the flow of weapons to the insurgents in the city, and targeted searches have rounded up terror suspects. US and Iraqi forces are steadly putting the squeeze on Al Qaeda's hopes to make a stand in Mosul. From EarthTimes:

The Iraqi Army's (IA) 2nd Division, backed up by 2,000 US troops, is in the process of establishing physical, 24-hour presence within the city of Mosul.

The effort includes building Combat Operations Posts (COPs) from which soldiers launch targeted raids, patrol neighbourhoods and establish vehicle checkpoints in cooperation with Iraqi Police units to limit the movement of gunmen and their supplies.

The IA's 3rd Division is mostly to the west of Mosul, interdicting terror suspects and their supplies coming across the Jazirah desert from nearby Syria.

Al-Qaeda-Iraq (AQI) is fighting back the only way it can, with car bombings and snipings, mainly against police posts, to break Iraqi Police resolve and keep a wedge between authorities and citizens.

"Mosul is their last major urban stronghold and they have to hold onto it to remain viable," said US Army Lt. Col. Mike Simmering, the executive officer of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment that supports Iraqi Army efforts in the city.

The above photo (credit: Capt. Richard Ybarra, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) shows Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Wilson from Weare, NH, scanning rooftops while pulling security during a patrol in Mosul on March 15.

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