Iraq: Islamists force 500,000 to flee Mosul - Iraqi soldiers, police drop weapons PHOTO

 

Since 6 June the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Shams (ISIS) has seized control of the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and a major political and economic centre in the northern Nineveh province.

     

 

As hundreds of ISIS fighters fought their way from the desert suburbs into the city centre, Iraqi security forces suffered a dramatic collapse of morale despite outnumbering ISIS fighters by more than 15-to-one.
By 9 June, ISIS had overrun the provincial council and governor's offices, high security prisons, the Federal Police headquarters, television stations and the international airport.

 

Now the Iraqi federal government must gather its forces for a counter-offensive. Unlike Fallujah, which was lost to ISIS in January 2014, Mosul is too important to be cordoned off and besieged.
Simple assault