Islamic State duped forces with fake funeral to conduct east Mosul bombings
Explosion. Representational photo)
The attacks in the Kokjali area, which was declared IS-free two months ago, were reportedly carried out with three booby-trapped vehicles driven by IS suicide bombers. They left at least 30 dead, including army soldiers, and 60 wounded, according to security sources quoted by the media.
But how the suiciders managed to enter the area was not clear until the rights commission gave its account.
“The group utilized army forces’ failure to search a fake funeral they set on from the neighboring, IS-held al-Quds district,” the commission said in a statement, adding that attendants of the mock procession claimed to be heading for burial at a local cemetery in Kokjali.
Getting finished with the deceptive act, they militants drove their trapped vehicles and exploded them at shoppers in a popular market, the organization added.
It urged caution among security forces to foil IS “plots” against civilians who return to their liberated areas.
Iraqi government forces, backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi and US-led air forces, launched a wide-scale military campaign mid October to retake Mosul: IS’s last major stronghold in Iraq. While government forces fought on the eastern shore of the Tigris River, recapturing several districts around the city center since then, al-Hashd al-Shaabi has been fighting the group in the western region, claiming to have isolated IS’s hideouts there from both Syria and Iraq.
As admitted by military media, progress in battles at the easte slowed down over the past week. That is reportedly due to bad weather conditions and the density of the targeted districts.
IS has been targeting areas it had lost to Iraqi forces, leading to civilian deaths and even withdrawals by Iraqi troops in some cases, according to rights organizations and news reports.