WASHINGTON –
Iraqi forces have begun working toward Mosul after their
victory in Fallujah this week against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
and the Syrian Democratic Forces are tightening a cordon around Manbij in an
operation led by the Syrian Arab coalition, the Operation Inherent Resolve
spokesman said today.
Speaking live via videoconference from a command post in the
Middle East, Army Col. Christopher Garver gave an update on the ISIL fight
after offering condolences on the U.S.-led coalition’s behalf after deadly
attacks yesterday on the Istanbul Ataturk International Airport in Turkey’s
capital city.
Also this morning, Defense Secretary Ash Carter called
Turkish Minister of Defense Fikri Isik to express his deep condolences
following the attack.
Carter strongly condemned the attack as a cowardly assault
on a stalwart NATO ally and enduring partner in efforts to confront the threat
of terrorism, according to a statement by DoD Deputy Press Secretary Gordon
Trowbridge. The defense secretary also reaffirmed that the department will work
closely with Turkish allies to defeat terrorists of any kind.
Victory in Fallujah
Beginning with Iraq, Garver said the world watched as Iraqi
fighters raised the Iraqi flag over Fallujah June 17, and Iraqi military
leaders announced the city’s full liberation June 26.
“Since that time we have seen rapid clearing operations
within the city as [Iraq] consolidates its gains and prepares for future
operations, which will include handing over the security of Fallujah to the
holding force” of local police and Sunni tribal fighters, the colonel added.
The assault phase of the ground campaign began May 21, and
during that time the coalition conducted 106 strikes in support of Iraqi
operations, he said.
“We know there is interest in the physical state of Fallujah
after the battle,” Garver said, adding that press reports indicate that the
city is in better shape than Ramadi was last year after its liberation.
“If initial reports [are] accurate, we hope this will bode
well for getting the residents of Fallujah back into their homes as quickly as
possible. We do not have an estimated timeline from the Iraqi government yet
but all parties involved in the care of the displaced citizens are working to
develop that now,” he said.
In the Tigris River Valley, Iraqi forces are conducting
shaping operations to prepare for the eventual liberation of Mosul. On the
western access, Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service forces and 9th Iraqi Army
Division brigades continue to push the attack north out of Beiji, Garver said.
Fighting on the western access has ranged been between light
and moderate, but Iraqi forces continue to make steady gains toward Qayyarah.
Over the past week, the coalition has conducted 34 strikes in the Qayyarah
region in support of these operations, the colonel added.
Toward Manbij
In Syria, in addition to progress made by Syrian Democratic
Forces and the Syrian Arab Coalition toward Manbij, SAC forces are fighting to
establish footholds on the southern and western edges of the city, Garver said.
“They’ve seized the entrances to an intricate tunnel complex
on the southern edge, which will reduce [ISIL’s] ability to relocate fighters
inside the city,” he added, noting that SAC forces have seized more than 10,000
documents from the outlying edges, including textbooks, propaganda posters,
cell phones, laptops, maps and digital storage devices.
“Exploitation of this information is ongoing to better
understand [ISIL] networks and techniques, including the systems [used] to
manage the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq,” the colonel said.
To protect citizens inside the city, Garver said SAC leaders
have assumed a slower and more deliberate rate of advance to clear booby traps
and homemade bombs and to avoid civilian casualties, although ISIL continues to
establish fortified defenses in the city.
“We expect the fighting to continue to be intense and
progress slow but deliberate due to the strategic importance [ISIL] places on
this city for keeping lines of communication between Manbij, Raqqa and outside
Syria open,” he said.
Increasing Pressure
In southeastern Syria, Garver said that partner opposition
forces running the Tanf Garrison launched an attack in the past 48 hours to
seize the town of Abu Kamal in the Euphrates River Valley.
“The announced purpose of this attack by the New Syrian
Army, also known as the … KAA, is to liberate Abu Kamal and cut [ISIL’s]
military supply lines in the Euphrates Valley between Syria and Iraq,” he said.
“Cutting these supply lines will impact the flow of foreign fighters and
supplies between the upper and lower Euphrates Valley.”
Garver said that as local fighters with coalition support
have worked to interdict lines of communication between Iraq and Syria in the
north near Sinjar Mountain on Highway 43 and in the south near Rutbah on
Highway 10, “we are now working to interdict the last major line of
communication between the two countries.”
Doing so, he added, will better isolate ISIL operations in
the two countries, limit high-speed routes to reinforcements, resupply and
foreign fighters flowing between the countries, and increase pressure across
the so-called caliphate.
Tidal Wave II
Operation Inherent Resolve continues to target ISIL illicit
oil and natural gas activities in an operation called Tidal Wave II, Garver
said, whose targets include oil sites, equipment and vehicles for transporting
oil and natural gas.
Since September 2014, the coalition has conducted about 300
strikes against oil-related facilities, infrastructure and equipment, he said,
and last week the coalition conducted eight strikes in support of Tidal Wave II
near Raqqa in Syria and Mosul and Qayyarah in Iraq.
Coalition airstrikes have attacked ISIL oil tankers, oil and
gas separation plants, wellheads and pumping infrastructure, he said, and the
self-proclaimed ISIL ministry of oil headquarters in Mosul, affecting
management of illicit oil operations.
“The Tidal Wave strikes affect ISIL’s ability to fund
governance activities and terror operations,” Garver added.