US military bombs Mosul hospital as Iraqi troops retreat
By Bill Roggio | December 8, 2016 | admin@longwarjournal.org | @billroggio
The US military launched an airstrike against a hospital in eastern Mosul that was used as a command center by the Islamic State as Iraqi troops failed to seize the complex over the past several days. The strike highlights the difficulties ahead in retaking the city, as the Islamic State remains entrenched.
US Central Command, or CENTCOM, announced the strike, which took place on Dec. 7, and explained the circumstances behind the operation. The US military is sensitive to hitting protected targets such as hospitals; an accidental strike on a Médecins Sans Frontières-run hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October 2015 killed 42 people and sparked international condemnation.
“The Coalition complies with the Law of Armed Conflict and takes all feasible precautions during the planning and execution of airstrikes to reduce the risk of harm to non-combatants,” CENTCOM stated.
According to CENTCOM, Islamic State fighters were using the Al Salem hospital complex as “a base of operations and command and control headquarters.” Iraqi troops, likely US-trained special forces that have spearheaded the assault to retake Mosul, “attempted to seize” the hospital on Dec. 6, but Islamic State fighters counterattacked.
Iraqi troops were hit with six suicide car bombs “before retrograding a short distance,” or retreating, according to CENTCOM. The US military then “conducted a precision strike on the location to target enemy fighters firing on Iraqi forces” on Dec. 7.
Read More At: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/12/us-military-bombs-mosul-hospital-as-iraqi-troops-retreat.php
But at this point-in-time, ISIS is using the hospital as a command center.
ISIS is putting up some fight against the Iraqi military, 6 car bombs the article says.
Meanwhile, in Allepo for whatever it's worth, they, the Syrians and Russians are not really going against ISIS but just "rebels".
