Col. Bills: Mosul should be under control by July

U.S. soldiers, along with Iraqi army and police, are establishing a series of combat outposts around the city, pushing al-Qaida and other insurgent groups from neighborhoods they’ve controlled for years, said Col. Michael A. Bills, commander of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

“We have gone into areas where nobody has gone into in the past,” said Bills, after touring several of the outposts earlier this week. “You have to go in there where they are strong … and that will force the insurgents to leave the area.”

Mosul, located about 225 miles north of Baghdad, has been described by top U.S. military officials as the last urban stronghold in Iraq for al-Qaida and other insurgent groups.

About 2,000 U.S. troops, composed of two battalions — the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment — are operating in Mosul. They are backed up by 22,000 Iraqi army and police, including the Iraqi army’s 2nd Division.

U.S. forces estimate that anywhere from 400 to 600 hardcore militants and as many as 1,000 criminals may be operating in Mosul. They have engaged U.S. and Iraqi forces with hit-and-run tactics, including car bombs, roadside bombs, small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks. Eight U.S. soldiers have died in the city since December.

U.S. and Iraqi troops are generally pushing from south to north through Mosul as they secure the city. While attacks typically spike when military and police move into a new area, they quickly taper off as the troops gain control, Bills said. Significant acts of violence against U.S. and Iraqi troops have dropped from about 41 attacks a day in December to a current average of about two dozen daily incidents.

“You can see exactly where that line is of where those engagements are,” Bills said. “And it’s all north now, of where those (combat outposts) are established and where patrolling is occurring outside those (combat outposts).”

Along two main roads in the heart of Mosul’s business district, nearly all of the storefronts are shuttered and many buildings are completely flattened or heavily damaged from years of combat. The streets are littered with piles of refuse and flooded in many places by water that gushes from broken underground pipes.

Maj. John Oliver, operations officer for 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, said that soldiers spent almost a month after arriving in December just clearing refuse from the streets.

Since Combat Outpost Rabiy was built in the area a month ago, life is slowly coming back to the area, he said.

“Now we’re starting to see the people come back to the neighborhood, which is wonderful,” Oliver said. “But it’s still definitely a challenge, though.”

Bills said Iraqi army and police have taken the lead in encouraging local residents to move back in and reopen their businesses.

“Two weeks ago, those store owners were afraid to open,” Bills said. “But now they’re starting to reopen. The Iraqi soldiers are going around saying, ‘Please open up your stores, we’ll provide you with security.’ We’ve come a long way from people not even liking the Iraqi army to now looking to them for protection.”

Oliver estimated that 3rd Squadron has another month of outpost construction ahead before its soldiers can concentrate on foot patrols in their sector. The squadron has built four new outposts in west Mosul and plans to build another six more in coming weeks.

Once security has been sufficiently established in Mosul, Bills said, U.S. forces plan to move to the next stage of their strategy: repairing water mains, paving roads and rebuilding other infrastructure, all of which will be handled by local local contractors.

But for the time being, security will remain the top priority, Bills said.

“The quicker we can either kill or capture the enemy that’s there, they quicker we can get the city of Mosul back to the people,” he said.