Push to free Christian town

Iraqi-led forces clash with ISIS in push to free Christian town

By Tim Lister, Arwa Damon, Nick Paton Walsh and Angela Dewan

Kurdish Pershmerga forces in the push to free Mosul actually wanted a political plan -- not just a military plan -- to help retake the city from ISIS, Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said.

"We would have loved to have a political plan along with a military plan, how to manage Mosul, how to administer Mosul, because Mosul has a variety of religions, with ethnicities," Barzani told CNN's Christiane Amanpour Wednesday.

But he acknowledged that probably "would have taken a longer time."

The operation to free Mosul from two years of ISIS rule marks the first time Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi forces have fought against a common enemy, Barzani said.

"We are looking for a good solution for Mosul," he said.

But the battle to free it could be marked with months of bloody fighting.

On the road to Mosul, Iraqi-led forces have besieged a Christian town in an attempt to liberate it from ISIS control, but they are facing fierce resistance and exchanging heavy gunfire with the militants, a paramilitary general told CNN.

Iraqi security forces, Peshmerga fighters and a Christian paramilitary group have forced ISIS fighters into the center of Qaraqosh, where airstrikes are pounding the militants, in apparent coalition support of the assault, Gen. Amr Shamoun from the Christian militia group said.

It's the latest clash with ISIS militants in an aggressive push toward Mosul by a coalition of around 94,000 people, aimed at unshackling the strategic city from more than two years of brutal ISIS control.

The operation in Qaraqosh has been complicated, as ISIS apparently brought civilians into the town, which was abandoned after the militants took control of it in 2014.

Part of Qaraqosh has already been liberated, Shamoun said.

Qaraqosh is just one town coalition forces are trying to liberate. The Iraqi army's armored division is closing in on Mosul's fringes after sweeping through enemy-controlled land in the past two days, freeing communities village by village, the division's commander told CNN Wednesday.

Recent developments

Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Maliki, commander of the Iraqi 9th armored division, told CNN that in the past two days:

•The armored division has advanced; it is now three to four miles from the outskirts of Mosul
•Three brigades have liberated 13 villages to north and northeast of Quwayr
•At least 50 ISIS militants and two Iraqi soldiers have been killed, and 25 soldiers are injured
•Dozens of suicide vehicles and a large number of IEDS have been destroyed 

Celebrations turn sour

Qaraqosh was a Christian town, home to 50,000 inhabitants before ISIS took control of it, and an exodus saw thousands flee to Mosul, only to be forced out again when ISIS took that key city.

Displaced Iraqi Christians take part in celebrations on Tuesday in Irbil as Iraqi forces entered their hometown of Qaraqosh.

Many of those who fled are now living in the city of Irbil, where they celebrated Tuesday when they heard Iraqi forces had entered their hometown.

They held a vigil overnight, holding candles and singing hymns, images showed, while others gathered in the street, cheering and dancing.

But their celebrations may have come too soon, as news came on Wednesday that ISIS was putting up a real fight in Qaraqosh, as they have in several areas on Mosul's fringe since the operation launched Monday.

Another Iraqi military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that Iraqi units fighting around the village of Al Absi have been surrounded by ISIS fighters. Al Absi is near Nimrud, 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Mosul. The area has seen heavy fighting in the last 36 hours.

Edging closer

Maliki said his division was around three to four miles (five to six kilometers) from the city's outskirts. He said progress had slowed as protective forces were needed in newly liberated areas to hold ground.

Maliki's comments echo those of Sirwan Barzani, a Peshmerga military commander, who told CNN that the battle to recapture Mosul from ISIS could take two months.

Barzani said it would likely take two weeks for advancing forces to enter the city. Iraq's leaders have said that only Iraqi government troops and national police officers will be allowed to do so amid fears of sectarian retribution, he said.

The coalition's 94,000 members vastly outnumber their opponents. But ISIS, which has known the push was coming, has constructed elaborate defenses, including a network of tunnels. Coalition forces will also likely face suicide bombs, car bombs and booby traps.

Up to 5,000 ISIS fighters are in Mosul, a US military official said. ISIS' supporters put the number at 7,000.

A unit of what appeared to be US special forces advisers entered ISIS territory with the very first armored convoy of Peshmerga on Monday, a CNN team observed. They followed a dozens-strong unit of Kurdish armor bound for ISIS positions, placing American forces right at the front of the opening moments of the fight to retake Mosul.

Residents from freed villages -- Iraqi flags waving from their buildings -- have started to cautiously celebrate. In one newly-freed village on the outskirts of Mosul, people have fled in panic as rumors swirled that ISIS was coming back.

Al-Adla, which is about 31 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Mosul, had been retaken by the 9th armored division, which had marked it free of ISIS and moved on to liberate other small settlements in the area.

Around 200 residents fled to hide out behind a sand berm. Among a group of women there, some told CNN they saw ISIS fighters reemerge from orchards.

"Everyday they would come to us and ask, do you have guns? So you have mobile phones? Give them over," one woman said, in anger and fear.

"Whoever they found with a mobile phone they would kill. They starved us. They'd kill people who would smoke. We were so happy when the army came," another said.

After CNN spoke to the community, they heard it was safe to return, and began collecting their belongings to march back together.