In days leading up to the start of the assault on Mosul in northern Iraq, coalition airstrikes continued to hit infrastructure, weapons, and personnel belonging to the terrorist group.
In the GIF below, one of seven strikes near Mosul on October 8 hits a vehicle-borne improvised-explosive-device factory. VBIEDs continue to be one of the most common weapons deployed by ISIS forces. Even as the advance on Mosul continues, reports of a suicide car-bombing near Baghdad have emerged.
A little over a week after this strike, Iraqi President Haider al-Abadi announced the beginning of the operation to liberate Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the largest Iraqi city still under ISIS control.
The Iraqi forces being deployed against the city, which are bolstered by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Shiite militias, are supported by airstrikes by a 60-country coalition.
Thomson Reuters
Peshmerga forces ride on military vehicles on the east of Mosul during preparation to attack Mosul, Iraq
In addition to the seven strikes launched on October 8, the combined coalition air forces hit the city with four strikes on October 9, four strikes on October 10, four strikes on October 11, one strike on Octobe 12, five strikes on October 13, and another strike on October 15.
Those raids targeted ISIS buildings, vehicles, weapons emplacements, weapons factories, command centers, anti-aircraft-weapons systems, personnel, remotely piloted aircraft, and media and communications gear.
The outlook for the Mosul operation is mixed. Some reports indicate that ISIS forces in the city are preparing to make a ferocious last stand, while The Wall Street Journal has reported the bulk of the terrorist group's forces in the city have withdrawn, citing a mid-level ISIS commander.
What seems certain is that the fight to secure Mosul from ISIS forces will further immiserate the civilian population in the city, believed to be about a million of the city's pre-ISIS population of 2 million.
See the full video of the October 8 airstrike on the Operation Inherent Resolve Facebook page.