Coalition losses in Mosul. Military pensioners for Russia and its armed forces

A military source told Russkaya Vesna the details of the bloody operation to liberate the Iraqi capital of ISIS.

The operation to take Mosul has entered the stage of "slippage". Successive victorious reports about the liberation of another suburb of this city, which occupies the most important strategic position, were replaced by “operational pauses” from ISIS *.

While the Western media are reporting stories about the happy deliverance of the inhabitants of Mosul, videos are appearing on YouTube showing the explosions of the vaunted American M1A1 Abrams tanks by suicide vehicles and ATGMs, footage of at least a hundred units (!) of burning armored vehicles of government forces and other evidence of that Iraqi troops are bogged down in bloody street battles ...

Troops suffer horrendous losses

In the photo at once 4 destroyed "Hammers" in the Mosul region

Official data indirectly speak of huge losses. In order to influence public opinion in a positive way, on TV channels like CNN or BBC, invited experts estimate the losses of the attackers as one coalition soldier to two ISIS terrorists.

Such a ratio, not in favor of well-armed and trained militants defending in a fortified city, according to the canons of military science, can only be justified by the high efficiency of "pinpoint" strikes against them by aviation and artillery.

But judging by the fact that almost every air raid is accompanied by dozens of dead and wounded civilians (which the Iraqi media themselves conscientiously record), the coalition forces cannot boast of being particularly selective in their strikes. This is quite consistent with the tactics on the ground: cadres of Iraqi soldiers have already gone around the world pouring fire indiscriminately all around on the streets of Mosul.

However, if we accept the assessments of Western experts as adequate, then the question arises: according to the Iraqi Ministry of Internal Affairs, during the month of fighting near Mosul, about 2,800 ISIS fighters were destroyed, out of those 4-5 thousand who held the city and its environs initially.

Then, according to the "talking heads" from Western TV channels, the coalition's losses per month (!) should be at least 1,500 (!) military personnel (at the rate of 1 military to 2 militants). Involuntarily, you will listen to the "ISIS" propaganda, which claims that in the battles for Mosul, a whole division of government troops has already been ground.

In any case, photos and videos from the battlefield testify to the horrendous losses of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Against this background, it is worth considering what actually caused the non-participation in the storming of Mosul of all other coalition members, except for the federal Iraqi army and the special forces of the US armed forces (which, according to official data, have already lost at least 22 people killed).

To the west of the city is the so-called Shiite militia. From the north and east - the Kurdish peshmerga and the militias of the Sunni tribes. It was officially announced that the liberation of Mosul itself would be carried out exclusively by regular Iraqi forces. And now you might think that only they did not have the opportunity to refuse to participate in this operation.

Militants do not flee to Syria, but strengthen the defense

On the other hand, it should be noted that instead of the expected departure of militants to Syria along the corridor provided by the Americans in the northwest, they not only put up stubborn resistance, but, according to a number of Middle Eastern publications, are also transferring reinforcements to Mosul.

Different observers explain this in different ways. But an analysis of the tone of publications on the topic of Mosul in the media of Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Iraq is quite capable of providing a hint.

Turkey and Qatar are allies of ISIS

As you know, Turkey and Qatar are allies in organizing the so-called "Sunni corridor" for the supply of energy from the Persian (Arabian among the Arabs) Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. Because of this, these two countries entered into conflict in 2011 with the government of Bashar al-Assad, who chose to develop joint projects with Iran and Iraq (where the Shiites make up the majority of the population).

Syrian jihadist groups and ISIS, which took control of territories promising for the “Sunni corridor” in Iraq and Syria, became the “shadow” partners of these states.

Now the government of Recep Erdogan, with the support of Qatar, is busy creating a controlled buffer zone in northern Syria, relying on jihadists, renamed the Free Syrian Army. Few analysts have missed the fact that ISIS and the pro-Turkish FSA units are fighting each other with much less bitterness and tenacity than against the Kurds and the American-created Syrian Democratic Forces.

This suggests that the agreements between the "ISIS" and the Turks to continue to conduct a common business under new signs are quite real. Contradictions between the interests of Turkey and Qatar, on the one hand, and the interests of the United States, Great Britain and Iran, on the other, are also becoming apparent.

The Shiite power seeks to prevent the plans of geo-economic competitors from being realized, and Western allies seem to be interested in the chronic instability of the region as a whole. Therefore, the Pentagon is betting on separatist Kurdish formations, and British media in reports about the events around Mosul, confessional strife is incited in every way.

Against this background, it is understandable why the Turkish media and the Qatari television channel Al-Jazeera pay so much attention to the troubles of Iraqi Sunnis, whom the pro-American coalition and Shiites are "expelled from their native lands." It is clear why Turkey insists on the participation of its troops in the Mosul operation.

Kurds and Sunni militias avoid fighting

It was after Washington announced that it supported Baghdad's objections to the presence of Turkish troops near Mosul and relied on the Syrian Democratic Forces, which included the Kurds, to advance on Raqqa, the resistance of the coalition's "ISIS" units in both Syria and Iraq became significant. more stubborn. And the Sunni militias and formations of the army of Iraqi Kurdistan, allied to the Turks, refused to continue active operations in the Mosul direction.

But the Shiite militias have announced their intention to cut the road left for the ISIS to leave Mosul, while the Iranian media are covering the assault on this city as if it were an operation of the greatest importance.

As for the Iraqi TV channels and newspapers, among them the fruits of the overthrow of the dictatorship and the introduction of freedom of speech have surprisingly affected. Journalists of a number of popular publications yearn for the former "all-Iraqi identity" and sympathize with the inhabitants of their country, who are dying in Mosul both from coalition bombs and shells, and at the hands of terrorists.

* A terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.

The photo and video show only a small part of the footage of the destroyed equipment of the forces of the anti-ISIS coalition in Mosul, published in recent weeks. We are really talking about hundreds (!) of burned, captured and wrecked units of military equipment.

American special forces suffer huge losses during the "liberation" of the oil capital of the "Islamic state" 1 (the organization's activities are prohibited on the territory Russian Federation) of the city of Mosul. Correspondent federal agency news discussed with a military expert the reasons for the failure military operation the so-called antiterrorist coalition led by the United States.

Washington intends to complete the "liberation" of Mosul as soon as possible. As the New York Times previously reported, 560 elite American special forces soldiers were sent to Iraq.

According to Western experts, the US special forces actively joined the operation to storm Mosul, primarily due to the fact that the Iraqi government troops and paramilitary forces of the Kurdish militia cannot independently take control of the city. However, the American special forces are not omnipotent and suffer significant losses.

According to the Inside Syria media center, the casualties among the US military are constantly growing. The death toll has already exceeded 20, and the number of injured has reached 32 people. The agency draws attention to the fact that American troops suffer losses not only during mortar and artillery strikes, but also from "friendly" fire. So, two fighters were killed when an American B-52H bomber hit the outskirts of Mosul. This indicates serious problems in the coordination of actions between the military of the United States.

The losses of the American military are also confirmed by military-diplomatic sources of the TASS publication. It is reported that US special forces in the first two weeks of the military operation in Mosul lost 16 people killed and 27 wounded.

“The very heavy losses of the American-led coalition caused an operational pause near Mosul, from the direct assault of which, obviously, the allies have already refused. IS 1 has proven to be an adversary that has proven to be resistant to US warfare and propaganda. In addition to the Americans, special forces of others were involved near Mosul. Western countries, as well as fighters of various PMCs. They also suffered significant losses, and this became an additional factor in reducing the activity of the coalition. The capabilities of the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army were not enough for an effective attack on the positions of the Islamic State without foreign support,” a military and political expert of the People’s Diplomacy Foundation and a representative of the Future Today expert and analytical club explained to FAN. Sergey Prostakov.

According to the analyst, one can expect a change in the tactics of both the coalition and the terrorist groups. The stake in the fight against ISIS will obviously be placed on the blockade of its oil capital, which will cause an inevitable humanitarian catastrophe for the civilian population of the city and its environs. The militants, on the other hand, can respond with unexpected strikes on the rear of the advancing group and unleash an even larger terrorist and guerrilla war in the territories controlled by the Iraqi government and the Kurdish autonomy. In the worst case for ISIS (the loss of Mosul), the militants can shift the direction of their aggression to another direction, which can be very unexpected - from Libya or Kenya to Somalia to the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia.

“The high losses of US special forces operating near Mosul mean that no lessons have been learned from the events that followed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 in Washington. guerrilla war started by Sunni radicals and supporters Saddam Hussein, caused great tension among the American military contingent, and the battles for Fallujah can be seen as a prologue to today's battle for Mosul and a warning to the Pentagon. The combat effectiveness of the American special forces and their coalition colleagues has once again turned out to be dubious in the Middle East, which cannot but affect the image of the entire West in the region. This plays into the hands of the radicals, who, against the backdrop of the failures of the Americans and their allies, are able to attract new volunteers to their side to continue the expansion of terrorism, which Washington is not yet able to stop on its own,” Sergei Prostakov summed up.

1 The organization is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.

A military source told Russkaya Vesna the details of the bloody operation to liberate the Iraqi capital of ISIS.

The operation to take Mosul has entered the stage of “slippage”.

Troops suffer horrendous losses

In the photo at once 4 destroyed "Hammers" in the Mosul region

Official data indirectly speaks of losses. In order to influence public opinion in a positive way, on TV channels like CNN or BBC, invited experts estimate the losses of the attackers as one coalition soldier to two ISIS terrorists.

Then, according to the "talking heads" from Western TV channels, the coalition's losses per month (!) should be at least 1,500 (!) servicemen (based on one military to two militants). Involuntarily, you will listen to the "ISIS" propaganda, which claims that in the battles for Mosul, a whole division of government troops has already been ground.

To the west of the city is the so-called Shiite militia. From the north and east - Kurdish peshmerga and militias of Sunni tribes. It was officially announced that the liberation of Mosul itself would be carried out exclusively by regular Iraqi forces. And now you might think that only they did not have the opportunity to refuse to participate in this operation.

Militants do not flee to Syria, but strengthen the defense

Turkey and Qatar are allies of ISIS

Syrian jihadist groups and ISIS, which took control of territories promising for the “Sunni corridor” in Iraq and Syria, became the “shadow” partners of these states.

The Shiite power seeks to prevent the plans of geo-economic competitors from being realized, and Western allies seem to be interested in the chronic instability of the region as a whole. Therefore, the Pentagon is counting on the separatist Kurdish formations, and the British media, in reporting on the events around Mosul, incite confessional strife in every way.

Kurds and Sunni militias avoid fighting

On October 17, 2016, the operation of the Western coalition began to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from militants of the "Islamic State" (IS) banned in Russia. Since November 1, a direct assault on this city has been underway (so far only from the eastern direction). On November 6, the operation of the US allies in Syria "Wrath of the Euphrates" began. Its goal is to liberate the self-proclaimed capital of ISIS, Raqqa, from terrorists.

To seize Mosul, a motley group was created, which included Iraqi government troops (up to 29 thousand people), Kurdish self-defense forces - the Peshmerga (up to 4 thousand people), Shiite and Sunni militias (up to 10 thousand people). Special forces units of the US armed forces also take part in the hostilities.

The number of IS militants in Mosul is about 8,000 people, 2,000 of which are foreigners, but the Islamists are actively recruiting local residents loyal to the group to fight.

The attack on Mosul is developing along three main lines. In the north, Iraqi government troops are operating, the main grouping of which is located 12 km from the city. From the northeast, they have already captured the El-Zahra quarter and have penetrated 1 km into the city limits. The advancement of Iraqi units and subunits in this direction is 12 km from the beginning of the operation.

The offensive is more effective in the eastern direction. There, the Iraqi armed forces, together with the formations of the anti-terrorist service, the forces of the national federal police and the Peshmerga, captured the quarters of Hay-Aden, El-Khadr, El-Karama, Al-Quds and went deep into the city for 1.7 km. However, on November 8, ISIS troops launched a counterattack, advanced 1 km and captured the El Intisar quarter, pushing the group of Iraqi troops out of the city. From the beginning of the operation, the advance of government troops from the east amounted to 15 km.

On the southbound the joint grouping of the armed forces and the federal police of Iraq advanced to a distance of 17 to 35 km. Now units and subunits of government troops are located 12-15 km from the city limits.

Part of the forces of government troops makes a detour of Mosul from the south-west in order to block the main road Mosul - Tell Afar, which is 9 km away.

In other words, the average rate of advance of the Iraqi military is less than 1 km per day. Such an offensive cannot be called otherwise than marking time.

The daily pace of the operation, which can be considered successful, is 15-20 km per day.

The actions of the Iraqi group of troops are directly supported by the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) (up to 500 people), units of the Turkish armed forces (230 people), and the Italian armed forces (470 people).

In the course of hostilities, the multinational coalition forces suffer significant losses.

Only in the US SOF during the operation, 20 people were killed and 32 were injured.

Allied aviation, led by the United States, actively supports the offensive, striking militant targets in Mosul and its environs. Since the beginning of the operation, more than 400 missile and air strikes have already been delivered. 1.5 thousand tons of aircraft weapons were dropped on Mosul.

Residential areas and urban infrastructure facilities are exposed to air strikes. As a result, civilians are dying. The bombing of a school in the south of Mosul and residential areas of the settlements of Khazna, Karakosh, Karakharab and Ash-Shura on October 21-23, 2016 can serve as an example of the non-selectivity of coalition air force strikes. During the strikes, more than 60 civilians were killed and at least 200 people were injured. In total, since the beginning of the operation to storm Mosul, more than a thousand civilians have died from the indiscriminate actions of the coalition air force.

Moreover, the operation plan did not initially provide for humanitarian pauses, and the corridors for the exit of residents and the evacuation of the wounded arose spontaneously.

According to the UN, about 48,000 people have left Mosul since the start of the operation. The total number of Iraqi refugees by mid-January 2017 may reach several hundred thousand people (up to a million displaced persons in the future). Residents of Mosul and its environs are sent mainly to refugee camps in Iraq, in the provinces of Ninewa and Anbar south of Mosul. However, even before the start of the operation (as of November 1), these camps were already more than 50% full.

A significant part of the inhabitants (mostly Sunnis and Turkomans) flee from the fighting to Syria - in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hasaka - and further to the Turkish province of Hatay. Ankara seeks to prevent refugees from entering its territory.

The humanitarian situation in the city and its environs continues to deteriorate rapidly. There are no doctors, medicines, food and basic necessities. The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the liberated territories exceeds 50,000 people. At the same time, international humanitarian organizations are not allowed into the operation area.

The situation develops in a similar way during the assault on Raqqa.

In this case, a motley grouping is also created. The Kurdish YPG self-defense units (up to 25,000 people), the US-controlled formations of the Sunni Arabs Raqqa Forces Brigade, the Liberation Brigade, the Raqqa Martyrs Brigade and the Free Raqqa Brigade, as well as the Turkish-controlled Brigade self-defense Turkoman "and" Battalion of martyrs Turkoman "(total - up to 15.5 thousand fighters).

130 Special Operations Forces personnel have been allocated from the US armed forces.

Special Forces members solve the tasks of directing Western coalition aviation to IS targets. They act as advisers to the command of the "Syrian Democratic Forces", and also coordinate the actions of the Arab, Turkoman and Kurdish detachments. In addition, the American command involves Kurdish self-defense units in combat operations.

Opposing directly in Raqqa has about 2 thousand militants, 7 tanks and 12 armored vehicles, 30 automobile "carts" with large-caliber machine guns mounted on them, 4 multiple launch rocket systems, 15 field artillery guns and mortars, up to 10 anti-aircraft installations and about 7 launchers installations of anti-tank guided missiles. Up to 3,000 IS fighters operate on the outskirts of their capital.

As of November 14, the formations participating in the operation of the Syrian Democratic Forces are moving towards Raqqa along the main highways from the northern direction - Ain Isa - Raqqa and Beit al-Hisha - Raqqa.

The main task of the group is to block the city from the western, northern and eastern directions, thereby creating conditions for the subsequent assault on Raqqa and the cleansing of the city by the forces of Arab and Turkoman formations.

In recent clashes, as well as as a result of US Air Force strikes, IS militants lost 54 people killed and a hundred wounded. One artillery gun and six vehicles with large-caliber machine guns mounted on them were destroyed. SDF losses - 5 people killed and 15 wounded.

Such low losses of the parties are explained by the fact that so far only small settlements that are of no strategic interest to ISIS. These towns and villages were not turned into powerful strongholds. They did not build long-term defensive structures.

The advancing units and units of the SDS have advanced 15 km since the beginning of the operation, practically without serious fighting.

As they approached Raqqa, the resistance of the terrorists increased noticeably, and the rate of advance decreased to 2 km per day.

Now the line of contact passes at a distance of 20 km from Raqqa. As a result of the active opposition of the ISIS formations, the Kurdish self-defense units were forced to suspend the offensive. Now they reflect enemy counterattacks.

In order to impede the further advance of the SDF units to Raqqa, IS militants in small mobile groups carry out surprise attacks on the enemy and quickly retreat to previously prepared positions.

As in the case of Mosul, the operation to take Raqqa does not provide for the introduction of humanitarian pauses and the creation of corridors for the evacuation of the population before the start of the assault. If the inhabitants themselves do not leave the city of Rakku by the beginning of the assault, then they will be considered as terrorists and their accomplices.

A similar practice was already used by the Americans in 2004 in Iraq during the capture of the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Then it led to significant casualties among the civilian population, held by the Islamists as a "human shield".

As the fighting approaches the city, an increase in the number of refugees is noted. More than 3,000 civilians have already left Raqqa (mainly the elderly, women and young children).

The contradictions between the Arab and Turkoman formations, on the one hand, and the Kurdish detachments, on the other, have a negative impact on the course of the operation to storm Raqqa. They are caused by mutual distrust and unwillingness to cede control over the liberated territories to each other.

The release from the terrorists of Raqqa by the deadline set by the US military command - mid-December 2016 - is unlikely.

Thus, in the operations to storm Mosul and Raqqa, the fighting took on a protracted character. The attackers are marking time. The number of civilian casualties is growing every day. The humanitarian situation in both cities is deteriorating rapidly. No significant military successes have yet been demonstrated by the US-led international coalition.

Biography:

- military observer of Gazeta.Ru, retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Command Academy of Air Defense (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of an anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior officer of the main headquarters of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate (1992-2000).
Graduate of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Browser "" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).

A military source told Russkaya Vesna the details of the bloody operation to liberate the Iraqi capital of ISIS*.

The operation to take Mosul has entered the stage of "slippage". Successive victorious reports about the liberation from ISIS of the next suburb of this city, which occupies the most important strategic position, were replaced by “operational pauses”.

Troops suffer horrendous losses

In the photo at once 4 destroyed "Hammers" in the Mosul region

Official data indirectly speaks of huge losses. In order to influence public opinion in a positive way, on TV channels like CNN or BBC, invited experts estimate the losses of the attackers as one coalition soldier to two ISIS terrorists.

Then, according to the "talking heads" from Western TV channels, the coalition's losses per month (!) should be at least 1,500 (!) military personnel (at the rate of 1 military to 2 militants). Involuntarily, you will listen to the "ISIS" propaganda, which claims that in the battles for Mosul, a whole division of government troops has already been ground.

In any case, photos and videos from the battlefield testify to the horrendous losses of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Militants do not flee to Syria, but strengthen the defense

Turkey and Qatar are allies of ISIS

Syrian jihadist groups and ISIS, which took control of territories promising for the “Sunni corridor” in Iraq and Syria, became the “shadow” partners of these states.

The Shiite power seeks to prevent the plans of geo-economic competitors from being realized, and Western allies seem to be interested in the chronic instability of the region as a whole. Therefore, the Pentagon is counting on the separatist Kurdish formations, and the British media, in reporting on the events around Mosul, incite confessional strife in every way.

Kurds and Sunni militias avoid fighting

* A terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.