In Eastern Mosul, Liberated From ISIS, Battle Rages ‘Day and Night’
Many residents still use the Islamic State-imposed term "jinod al-dawla," or "soldiers of the state." The militants
forbade residents to use the term Daesh, an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State that some consider pejorative.
Even as American-backed Iraqi forces prepare an offensive against the Islamic State stronghold in western Mosul, people in Rashidiya
are scratching out a primitive existence, deprived of electricity, running water and other essential city services.
Rashidiya was the last district in eastern Mosul declared liberated in late January,
but army officers say Islamic State sleeper cells remain entrenched.
With bridges over the Tigris destroyed by coalition aircraft to cut Islamic State supply lines,
the fighters use small boats to ferry men and supplies from western Mosul, residents said.
Residents of eastern Mosul sprinted home, terrified by the latest attack by the Islamic State,
and demoralized by the certainty that more would be coming.
Residents say they are repeatedly targeted by Islamic State snipers, mortars and grenade-dropping drones that buzz overhead several times a day.
