IS accuses western Mosul people of treason as call to arms defied

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Islamic State has accused citizens in western Mosul of treason as many defied calls to join the fight against government forces which had begun an invasion of the region to drive out the extremist group.

A local source told Alsumaria News that IS members, boarding pickup trucks and holding loudspeakers, urged citizens to join the battle’s front line to push back the major security offensive.

With citizens abstaining, some IS leaders, through megaphones, accused them of “treason” and “dishonoring allegiance” to the group, according to the source, who explained that 90 percent of residents who signed up for drafting weeks earlier failed to show up, putting the group in a tight spot.

Meanwhile, another local source told Alsumaria News that unknown assailants set fire on Sunday to three Islamic State headquarters, a few hours after the group evacuated the facilities. A local source had also said earlier that five IS combat patrols became under a gun attack in less than one hour, prompting militants to impose a comprehensive curfew at six districts.

Security forces marked a successful start on Sunday by recapturing nearly six villages and a major power station as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially announced a decisive phase of operations to retake western Mosul.

Government forces, backed by a allied militias and a U.S.-led international coalition, retook eastern Mosul on January 24th after three months of encounters. The city fell to Islamic State in 2014 when the group declared the establishment of a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate”.