Islamic State (IS) group militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul are cracking down on residents in an attempt to stop young men leaving the city to join nearby anti-IS training camps, an RFE/RL correspondent in Nineveh Province reports.
IS, which overran Mosul in June, has issued a ban forbidding residents from leaving Mosul unless they can provide a guarantor of their return within 10 days. IS fears that young men in particular will join training camps outside the city that are mobilizing as many Mosul residents as possible to prepare to fight IS militants.
News of the ban came as the governor of Nineveh Province, Athil al-Najafi, said that Mosul would not become an "incubator" for IS. Najafi said that it was possible to rid Mosul of "these gangs" -- a reference to IS -- but that support was needed from "all concerned." He added that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had agreed to support the establishment of a training camp for the National Guard in the province, as a measure to combat IS.
Despite the IS crackdown inside Mosul, RFE/RL sources in the city said that the Mosul Battalions managed to kill two IS gunmen in the Hirmat area west of the city, using silenced weapons. The U.S.-led coalition is continuing to strike against IS gunmen near the Mosul Dam.
The air strikes damaged high-tension electric power cables near the dam, shutting down water pumps and leading to major water shortages inside the city, RFE/RL’s correspondent said.
-- Joanna Paraszczuk