Iraqi special forces overstretched, but continue advance into Mosul

Iraqi special forces made rapid gains on Thursday after having breached the city limits of Mosul Wednesday.

After officially entering the city through the suburb of Gogjali, the Iraqi Special Operations Force dubbed "The Golden Division", advanced a further four kilometres along highway two and also captured the city's State TV building.

Fighting was expected to slow down considerably as combat operations took place in more urban environments, but that has not been the case thus far.

An Iraqi Counter-terrorism Service (ICTS) spokesman told The New Arab: "We are advancing on multiple axis - the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, the Federal police - we have a perfect plan for the liberation of Mosul".

The next target appears to be the city's industrial district of al-Karamah where Islamic State fighters are believed to have converted many of the factories into IED and car bomb producing factories.

It is set to be the first area of strategic importance within the city to be contested since the Mosul operation began.

However there are concerns that Iraqi forces may be on the verge of a manpower shortage. Some soldiers of the ICTS told The New Arab that they had been fighting on the front lines for more than 60 days straight.

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The division is the Iraqi army's key ground force, but has taken significant casualties. Yesterday alone they lost 15 men.

A lack of front line experience and trust in many of the Iraqi army's other divisions has led to significant reliance on the Golden Division.

The fear is that as urban fighting intensifies and the division takes on more casualties, the government may be forced to call upon the controversial Shia militias such as the Badr Brigade as a holding force.

Such forces are accused of sectarianism, and there are fears their presence within the city could provoke a violent backlash.

The extent of the jihadists tunnel making activities has also been revealed as far greater than previously believed as mechanical tunneling equipment has been found in newly liberated towns.

People fleeing the newly liberated suburb of Gogjali also reported that with unemployment inside the “caliphate” at such high-levels the group had taken to paying residents to dig tunnels.

Payment was measured by the cubic metre, though it was also reserved as a punishment for those breaking some of the draconian laws laid down by the group.

One man, name Raed, spoke of how many of the group's most fearsome fighters and figures had fled the city in recent weeks saying: "Everyone feared the Chechnyans, they were the most crazy, but when the aircraft started hitting the city, they fled, they were scared".