One by one,
hundreds of Mosul residents raised their shirts to prove they did not have
suicide bombs strapped to their bodies, closely watched by Iraqi special forces
fearful
of the threat posed by Islamic State, even in areas they now control.
The men then
handed over their identification cards so their names could be checked against
a database of wanted Islamic State members, part of the painstaking process of
clearing jihadists from each neighborhood of their Mosul stronghold.
Every time
Iraqi forces capture a section of Mosul in their offensive against Islamic
State, it can take up to a week to ensure it is clear of militants.
Some hide in the
network of tunnels they have constructed, while others mix with thousands of
displaced people or stay behind to form sleeper cells in the crowded
neighborhoods of Mosul, a city of more than one million people.
Iraqi security
officials say they have seized a large area of eastern Mosul in the biggest
ground operation in the country since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein in 2003.
Iraqi leaders
hope the Mosul campaign will bring stability after years of sectarian bloodshed
followed by the arrival of Islamic State, an ultra-hardline Sunni group, in
2014.
While the
Iraqis seem confident of victory, the security clamp-down in the Shuqaq
al-Khadra'a district of Mosul suggests Islamic State still poses a threat even
as it loses territory.
INTELLIGENCE
Iraqi special
forces were on patrol when their intelligence division heard from local people
that Islamic State militants were still in the area.
Special forces
and intelligence officials ordered residents to gather at a square with their
identification documents.
"Lift up
your shirt now," one officer yelled at a man, acutely aware that suicide
bombers are one of Islamic State's most effective weapons.
The residents,
many with beards of the size required by Islamic State, sat in rows as their
names were called. From time to time, a mortar bomb exploded nearby or shooting
rang out.
Sitting at
computers, special forces officers compared the names on identification cards
to a long list of wanted men.
"There
are about 39,000 wanted men in Iraq," said Mohamed Ali, a National
Security officer. About 80 percent, he added, are "terrorists", the
term Iraqi officials use to describe Islamic State and other militants.
As
identification cards were handed over, senior intelligence official Hussein
Za'alan lectured the men sitting on the ground about the "evils" of
Islamic State, hoping they would provide information on the militants.
"They
brought foreign fighters, criminals to this country," he said. "They
just take women, impregnate them."
Another
officer also sought to win the trust of the residents of predominantly Sunni
Mosul, where Islamic State won support initially because of widespread
discontent with the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.
"We need
your cooperation. Don't be scared. Remove fear from your hearts. Daesh is
finished," he said, using a derogatory Arabic acronym to describe Islamic
State.
"Look
what they do. They turn your young children into suicide bombers."
The officer didn't
have to look far to see how easy it is for Islamic State to recruit young
Iraqis.
Omar Abdullah,
51, one of the men being processed, sat beside his 16-year-old son, Ibrahim.
The teenager attended Islamic State indoctrination lectures on religion for 10
days before Abdullah managed to persuade him to leave the group.
But he was not
so lucky with another son, who is an Islamic State fighter in the nearby city
of Tal Afar.
"He
wanted to get married but he didn't have the money because times are
tough," said Abdullah. "Daesh brainwashed him, gave him money and
promised him virgins in heaven. I lost my son."
An elderly man
who did not immediately admit his son had joined Islamic State was chastised in
front of the group. "You lied to me. You are Islamic State," a
special forces officer shouted.
As
intelligence officials lectured the men, some residents identified one of those
in the square as an Islamic State member.
With a hood
put over his head, he was handcuffed and questioned. "Talk, talk,"
yelled an interrogator.
"We are
investigating. He could be Daesh, or the people that ratted him out may just
have something against him and are trying to get him in trouble," he told
Reuters.
Four more
suspected jihadists sat nervously in a room, awaiting their turn.
Reuters
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