CENTRALBATAM.CO.ID, MOSUL -Wrapped in a blanket and wearing pink sandals, a little girl sobs in fear as she walks down the street, gunfire blasting at the end of the road.
Confused, she turns around and covers her face with the blanket.
At that moment, a soldier from Iraq’s elite special forces the Golden Brigade rushes forward to help — “don’t cry,” he says, as he guides her to safer ground.
The girl—who looks little more than 10 —is followed by her younger sister and mother, who also holds a baby in her arms. The family is one of many fleeing this neighborhood in eastern Mosul as the Golden Brigade fights street by street, house by house, to drive out ISIS.
As the battle for Mosul enters its third month, the Iraqi military’s rapid advances over open territory in the initial weeks have been replaced by a slow, hard slog.
Iraqi forces have so far managed to drive the terror group out of 30% of the city and officials are no longer predicting an end to ISIS by the end of the year.
This has been a battle hard fought, in which Iraqi troops must painstakingly go through each house to make sure danger does not lie within. Awaiting them could be an ambush, explosive, or anxious family huddled inside.
