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WORLD
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
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Mosul offensive to drive out Islamic State
eAST OF MOSuL/ bAGHDAD, OcTOber 17 (reuTerS): Iraqi government forces launched a U.S.-backed offensive on Monday to drive Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, a high-stakes battle to retake the militants’ last major stronghold in the country. Two years after the jihadists seized the city of 1.5 million people and declared a caliphate from there encompassing tracts of Iraq and Syria, a force of some 30,000 Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Sunni tribal fighters began to advance. Helicopters released flares and explosions could be heard on the city’s eastern front, where Reuters watched Kurdish fighters move forward to take outlying villages. A U.S.-led air campaign has helped drive Islamic State from much of the territory it held but 4,000 to 8,000 fighters are thought to remain in Mosul. Residents contacted by phone dismissed reports on Arabic television channels that the jihadists had left. “Daesh are using motorcycles for their patrols to evade air detection, with pillion passengers use binoculars to check out buildings and streets from a distance,” said Abu Maher, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. He and others contacted were preparing makeshift defences and had been stockpiling food in anticipation of the assault, which officials say could take weeks or even months.
The residents withheld their full names for security reasons and Reuters was not able to verify their accounts independently. The United States predicted Islamic State would suffer “a lasting defeat” as Iraqi forces mounted their biggest operation since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011 and one of the biggest in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. But the offensive, which has assumed considerable importance for U.S. President Barack Obama as his term draws to a close, is fraught with risks. These include sectarian conflict between the city’s mainly Sunni population and advancing Shi’ite forces, and the potential for large numbers of casualties among Mosul’s civilian residents. “We set up a fortified room in the house by putting sandbags to block the only window and we removed everything dangerous or flammable,” Abu Maher said. “I spent almost all my money on buying food, baby milk and anything we might need.” Qatar-based al-Jazeera television aired video of what it said was a bombardment of Mosul that started after a speech by Prime Minister Haider Abadi, showing rockets and bursts of tracer bullets across the night sky and loud sounds of gunfire. “I announce today the start of the heroic operations to free you from the terror and oppression of Daesh,” Abadi said in a speech on state TV.
Affection - what cancer patients require badly post-surgery: study LONDON, OcTOber 17 (IANS): Cancer can wreck a person’s body and that is quite visible but a new study suggests that such patients may also experience loss of emotional support, thereby increasing their risk of suffering from depression and anxiety. Many bowel cancer patients are experiencing a lack of affection, emotional and practical support after surgery, and these patients lacking emotional support are three times more likely to experience clinical depression, according to the study by the University of Southampton and Macmillan Cancer Support, a Britainbased charity. Following more than 1,000 people with colorectal cancer from before their surgery until five years afterwards, as part of the Colorectal Wellbeing (CREW) study, the researchers found that people with colorectal cancer saw a reduction in affection, social interaction and practical and emotional support after surgery -- and for up to two years afterwards. “It is so important for people to have the help and support they need to manage the consequences of cancer after being diagnosed and treated. Assessment of people’s needs early on in the recovery process and then at regular intervals would help identify those most in need,” said Professor Claire Foster from University of Southampton. Those that lacked social support, such as having someone to talk to or help with practical tasks like household chores, were at a greater risk of a poor quality of life, the study found. For example, at diagnosis, one in 20 (5 per cent) patients said they had little or no affection. Two years after diagnosis, this had almost trebled to one in eight (13 per cent). Findings are similar for patients missing out on practical help. Two years after diagnosis, the proportion of people who lacked support was more than double that at the point of diagnosis (12 per cent vs five per cent). The research also showed that the odds of a patient having clinical anxiety or clinical depression are approximately doubled if they live alone compared to those who do not. “This research shows the heartbreaking reality for thousands of people with cancer who are going through one of the most difficult times with no one to talk to, no one to give them a hug when they’re feeling down, no one to cook them a meal when they’re wiped out from chemotherapy,” Lynda Thomas, Chief Executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said. The findings were released at the 18th International Psycho Oncology Society Congress in Dublin, Ireland.
Abdul Rahman Waggaa, a member of the exiled Provincial Council of Ninevah of which Mosul is the capital, told Reuters the advancing forces had yet to enter the city: “Activities are still outside of Mosul and the operation is not at full strength yet.”
Peshmerga forces gather on the outskirt of Mosul during preparationS to attack Mosul, Iraq, October 15. (REUTERS)
“We will meet soon on the ground in Mosul to celebrate liberation and your salvation,” Abadi said, surrounded by the armed forces’ top commanders. KURDISH FIGHTERS The commander of the coalition, U.S. Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said the operation to take Iraq’s second largest city would likely continue for weeks “possibly longer”. If Mosul falls, Raqqa in Syria will be Islamic State’s last city stronghold. “This is a decisive moment in the campaign to deliver ISIL a lasting defeat,” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a
statement, using another acronym for Islamic State. “We are confident our Iraqi partners will prevail against our common enemy and free Mosul and the rest of Iraq from ISIL’s hatred and brutality.” Islamic State has been retreating since the end of last year in Iraq, where it is battling U.S-backed government and Kurdish forces as well as Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’ite militias. The Iraqi Kurdish military command said 4,000 Peshmerga were taking part in an operation to clear several villages held by Islamic State to the east of Mosul, in an attack coordinated with a push by Iraqi army units from the
southern front. In its first statement on the Mosul operations, the Iraqi army media office said the advancing troops destroyed a number of Islamic State defence lines. Strikes carried out by Iraqi and coalition jets hit an unspecified number of the militants’ positions, it said. A column of black smoke was rising from one of the insurgents’ positions on the eastern front, a Reuters correspondent said, apparently from burning oil being used to block the path of the Kurds and obstruct the jets’ view. “We are the real Muslims, Daesh are not Muslims, no religion does what
they did,” said a young Kurdish fighter in battle dress as he scanned the plain east of Mosul from his position on the heights of Mount Zertik. As he spoke a Humvee drove by with the word Rojava, or Syria’s Kurdistan, painted on the protection plate of the machine gun turret. “This is all Kurdistan,” Major Shiban Saleh, one of the fighters onboard, said. “When we’re done here, we will chase them to Raqqa or wherever they go,” he said. He said about 450 Syrian Peshmerga fighters were involved in the offensive east of Mosul, which aims to take back nine villages during the day.
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS FEARED Early on Monday, Abadi sought to allay fears that the operation would provoke sectarian bloodletting, saying that only the Iraqi army and police would be allowed to enter the mainly Sunni city. He asked Mosul’s residents to cooperate with them. Local Sunni politicians and regional Sunnimajority states including Turkey and Saudi Arabia warned that letting Shi’ite militias take part in the assault could spark sectarian violence. The Iraqi army dropped tens of thousands of leaflets over Mosul before dawn on Sunday, warning residents that the offensive was imminent. The leaflets assured the population that advancing army units and air strikes “will not target civilians” and told them to avoid known locations of Islamic State militants. Reflecting authorities’ concerns over a mass exodus that would complicate the offensive and worsen the humanitarian situation, the leaflets told residents “to stay at home and not to believe rumours spread by Daesh” that could cause panic. Resident Abu Abdullah
said he had wanted to witness the beginning of the offensive. “We heard repeated explosions at a distance, so I went to the rooftop to see fireballs, even if it was dangerous. I was happy that the operation to liberate Mosul started.” In 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a “caliphate” in Iraq and neighbouring Syria from Mosul’s Grand Mosque. Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticised over the level of civilian casualties during government operations it is backing in Syria, said on Sunday he hoped the United States and its allies would do their best to avoid hitting civilians in the attack on Mosul. The United Nations last week said it was bracing for the world’s biggest and most complex humanitarian effort in the battle for the city, which could make up to 1 million people homeless and see civilians used as human shields or even gassed. There are already more than 3 million people displaced in Iraq as a result of conflicts involving Islamic State. Medicine is in short supply in Mosul, and food prices have risen sharply. “Families in Mosul started stockpiling food yesterday in case the fighting reaches our streets and we can no longer go out,” said Saeed, a resident. “Daesh are still in Mosul and it’s not true that they left. They are continuing to erect blast walls in the streets to obstruct any advance.”
China launches longest manned space mission SHANGHAI, OcTOber 17 (reuTerS): China launched its longest manned space mission on Monday, sending two astronauts into orbit to spend a month aboard a space laboratory that is part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. The Shenzhou 11 blasted off on a Long March rocket at 7:30 am (2330 GMT) from the remote launch site in Jiuquan, in the Gobi desert, in images carried live on state television. The astronauts will dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or “Heavenly Palace 2”, which was sent into space last month. It will be the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts, state media reported. Early on Monday, Fan Changlong, a vice chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, met astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong and wished them well, state news agency Xinhua reShenzhou-11 manned spacecraft carrying astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen ported. “You are going to travel in Dong blasts off from the launchpad in Jiuquan, China, October 17, . (REUTERS) space to pursue the space dream of
the Chinese nation,” Fan said. “With all the scientific and rigorous training, discreet preparation, and rich experience accumulated from previous missions, you will accomplish the glorious and tough task... We wish you success and look forward to your triumphant return.” Shenzhou 11 is the third space voyage for Jing, who will command the mission and celebrate his 50th birthday in orbit. In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory, the Tiangong 1. Advancing China’s space programme is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power. China insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes. Shenzhou 11, whose name translates as “Divine Vessel”, will also carry three experiments designed by Hong Kong middle school students and selected in a
science competition, including one that will take silk worms into space. The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China’s increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations using spacebased assets in a crisis. China has been working to develop its space program for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catchup to established space powers the United States and Russia. China’s Jade Rabbit moon rover landed on the moon in late 2013 to great national fanfare, but soon suffered severe technical difficulties. The rover and the Chang’e 3 probe that carried it there were the first “soft landing” on the moon since 1976. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had accomplished the feat earlier. China will launch a “core module” for its first space station some time around 2018, a senior official said in April, part of a plan for a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.
Trump charges U.S. election results being rigged ‘at many polling places’ WASHINGTON, OcTOber 17 (reuTerS): Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump dug deeper in his efforts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the U.S. election, saying on Twitter on Sunday that he believed the results were being “rigged” at many polling places. His tweet came hours after his vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, said Republicans would accept the outcome of the Nov. 8 contest between Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. “The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places - SAD,” Trump wrote on Twitter, in the latest of a series of comments he has made over the past several days calling into question the fairness of the election. Trump, who is trailing Clinton in opinion polls, did not provide any evidence to back his allegations of impropriety at the voting booth. Early voting and voting by mail have begun in many states. In another tweet later on Sunday, Trump blamed “animals representing Hillary Clinton” and Democrats in North Carolina for an overnight attack on a local Republican Party headquarters in that state. Local authorities said the building in Hillsborough, North Carolina, had been struck through a front window with flammable material and an adjacent building wall was spraypainted with a swastika and the words “Nazi Republicans leave town or else.” “Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina just firebombed our office in Orange County because we are winning,” Trump tweeted. Clinton denounced the attack as “horrific and unacceptable” in her own tweet, adding:
ana governor. “Donald Trump said in the first debate that we’ll respect the will of the American people in this election. The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of American history.” In a weekend statement quoted by media, a spokeswoman for U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, said: “Our democracy relies on confidence in election results, and the speaker is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity.”
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a Bollywood-themed charity concert put on by the Republican Hindu Coalition in Edison, New Jersey, U.S. October 15. (REUTERS)
“Very grateful that everyone is safe. ‘COORDINATED EFFORT’ Trump, a New York businessman, who has never held elective office, has often said the electoral process is skewed against him, including during the Republican nominating contests, when he disputed the method for winning delegates to the Republican National Convention. His latest complaint of media bias stems from allegations by women that he groped them or made other unwanted sexual advances, after a 2005 video became public in which Trump was recorded bragging about such behavior. He apologized for the video but has denied each of the accusations. “Election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened
into news!” Trump tweeted on Sunday, a sentiment he also expressed in posts and during rallies in Maine and New Hampshire on Saturday. The comments raised questions both from Republicans and Democrats about whether he would accept the outcome should he lose to Clinton. Trump said after the first presidential debate in September that he would “absolutely” accept the election outcome. But a few days afterward, he told the New York Times: “We’re going to see what happens.” He has also urged his supporters to keep an eye on voting locations to prevent a “stolen” election, which some critics interpreted as encouraging them to intimidate voters. Pence said on Sunday he and Trump would respect the will of the voters. “We’ll respect the outcome of this election,” said Pence, the Indi-
‘CONSEQUENCES TO RUSSIA’ On Sunday, Pence for the second time in recent weeks broke from Trump on Russia, this time on that country’s possible involvement in email hacks tied to the U.S. election, saying Moscow should face “severe consequences” if it has compromised U.S. email security. “I think there’s no question that the evidence continues to point in that direction,” Pence said. “There should be severe consequences to Russia or any sovereign nation that is compromising the privacy or the security of the United States of America,” Pence said on “Fox News Sunday.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week his country was not involved in trying to influence the U.S. election. Trump, who has been criticized for appearing too close to Russia after he publicly praised Putin’s governing style, has questioned the reports of Moscow’s involvement. “Maybe there is no hacking,” he said during last week’s second debate with Clinton. Trump also contradicted Pence on Russia during that debate. Pence had said the United States should use military force in Syria if Russia continued air strikes to prop up President Bashar al-Assad, but Trump said he disagreed.