Hussein suspected that as they drew closer to Mosul, Islamic State fighters would start using human shields. He had heard reports that the militants were forcing civilians out of surrounding villages and into the city, executing some.
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Rahad Qasim Kareem, 28, said he heard that his family's home was among those shot up during an attack by Islamic State militants the day before to the southeast in Kirkuk. That showed the offensive was working, he said. Iraqi soldiers have been criticized in the past for lacking resolve, fleeing in the face of Islamic State's offensive on Mosul in summer That afternoon, one of their Humvees was hit by a rocket and burned.
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No one was injured. But some soldiers were shaken. Hours later, they rolled out with Hussein's convoy to Bartella for a meeting with commanders.
They passed the charred remains of several car bombs and eerie, empty streets. Mortars boomed on the periphery. Waleed Abdel Nabi, 28, a slender, cleanshaven father of four from the southern city of Nasiriyah, is no stranger to explosions. He remembers the U. That's what motivated him to join up. He has since been wounded during recent offensives to drive Islamic State from western Iraq. His cousin Adl Halaf, 35, shorter with a thick moustache, joined too.
Now they share a Humvee stocked with Tiger energy drinks and sunflower seeds, listening to Shakira and debating whether she's American. Halaf's cellphone wallpaper is a photo of his year-old cousin, a police officer in western Rutbah shot by Islamic State. Nabi knew the soldier in their battalion who died, called his wife to tell her the news and heard her collapse. With the convoy parked on a side street in Bartella awaiting their commander, Nabi scanned their surroundings.
The town, like all they had freed so far, had been empty for two years. No civilians welcomed them.
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Instead, they were greeted by pastel houses pocked with bullet holes, each gaping door and shattered window a potential redoubt for snipers. He could feel a fierce fight coming. Last summer, when they freed the oil town of Qayyarah to the south from militants, Hussein's men mortared a house where snipers were shooting from the roof, only to later discover a family had been hiding inside. Now he sensed the enemy drawing near. Under his black special forces cap, his dark eyes darted from side to side.
He turned up his radio, leaning in the door. Was that Islamic State chatter? At a military checkpoint outside Bartella on Tuesday, families of those held captive by Islamic State pinned their hopes on the Golden Division. Several miles west, about 40 militants were sending a half dozen suicide bombers toward Hussein's soldiers, sniping at them while darting between tunnels.
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Car bombs destroyed two Humvees. But by day's end, Hussein's forces had killed nine militants and forced the rest to flee. The soldiers suffered no injuries or casualties. They seized Islamic State ammunition, an antiaircraft gun and radios they hoped to use to spy. And they captured two villages. But he said securing the area allowed hundreds of civilians farther west to flee the village of Tob Zawa. They greeted soldiers with white flags signaling their support, jubilant. They cut their beards, borrowed soldiers' phones to call relatives they had not spoken to in years, and praised the offensive.
They had a good plan to rescue people," said Saber Jergis, In the village of Sheikh Amir, the soldiers were sweeping for mines when they stumbled upon a set of gold wedding jewelry. Then they found the elderly owner, still in shock after finding his home destroyed.
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He found their home mortared, loaded with mines and robbed; even their 30 sheep were gone. Militants had scrawled graffiti on the walls, including: Now he and the rest of Hussein's men must go house to house, checking to ensure militants don't re-infiltrate. Before climbing a hill near his command post to survey the area with his men on Friday, Hussein snatched the starred officer's epaulets from his shoulders, smiling ruefully. This hill was once a cemetery, with one grave left. As he passed it, Hussein slung an arm over Nabi's shoulder.
The fate of these soldiers weighs heavily on the commander, who is having trouble sleeping. His men hear him on their radios at all hours, checking in. Hussein doesn't like calm days like this, so quiet he can hear the wind kicking up dust. Militants attack during dust storms, he said, making use of the cover. And they want this area, a strategic post along the highway to Mosul. At the top of the hill, Hussein pointed to a radio tower at the edge of Mosul.
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There was smoke on the horizon, fires set less than a mile away by Islamic State. The night before, a dozen militants, some of them suicide bombers, had climbed the hill to attack. Hussein's soldiers were ready to repel them, patrolling with night vision goggles. Even the badly wounded are itching to return to the battle for Mosul. Facing Iraq government-led Mosul offensive, Islamic State extremists strike back. David Petraeus warns that a bigger challenge awaits after Islamic State is driven from Mosul.
Asked what sect he belongs to, Hussein just smiled. Ali Hussein Fadil, right, directs some of the Najaf-based special forces soldiers under his command, including Saud Messoud Jamal, 31, left, whose Mosul-area village the offensive has freed from Islamic State. Now they were preparing to go into battle again, and said a quick prayer.
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Yes, his men replied. And then, into the other radio: I need you to deal with that. More booms sounded on the other end. Band of Brothers fansite. Top Reviews stories now: Minority Report cruises ahead. Dreamworks' Spirit limps home. Oasis edge towards dad rock. Birthday Girl falls flat. Life is still a Cabaret.
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