BAGHDAD: Fighters of the militant Islamic State group retreating in the face of a seven-week Iraqi military assault on their Mosul stronghold have hit back in the last two days, exploiting cloudy skies which hampered US-led air support and highlighting the fragile army gains.

In a series of counter-attacks since Friday night, the jihadist fighters struck elite Iraqi troops spearheading the offensive in eastern Mosul, and attacked security forces to the south and west of the city.

On Sunday two militants tried to attack army barracks in the western province of Anbar. Police and army sources said the attackers were killed before they reached the base.

Iraqi officials say they continue to gain ground against the militants who still hold about three-quarters of the country’s largest northern city which is IS’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

One military source said the militants had taken back some ground, but predicted their gains would be short-lived. “We withdraw to avoid civilian losses and then regain control. They can’t hold territory for long,” the source said.

But the fierce resistance means the military’s campaign is likely to stretch well into next year as it seeks to recapture a city where the jihadists are dug in among civilians and using a network of tunnels to launch waves of attacks.

This has prompted fears among residents and aid groups of a winter food, water and fuel supply crisis for the million residents still in IS-held areas of the city, and calls to speed up operations.

“Daesh (Islamic State) still controls our neighbourhood, and the Iraqi forces have not taken a single step forward in three weeks. We’re in despair,” said a resident in Mosul’s southeastern district of Intisar, where the army’s Ninth Armoured Division has struggled to make gains.

“My family and I have been sleeping under the concrete stairs in our house for a month now, afraid of the random bombardment between the Iraqi forces and the Daesh elements,” he said.

The capture of Mosul, the largest city under control of IS in both Iraq and Syria, is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate which the militants declared over parts of the two countries in 2014.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2016