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Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces used to facing deserted, explosives-rigged streets and booby-trapped buildings have not encountered as many bombs planted by jihadists in Mosul as they did in earlier battles against them.

The Islamic State group has no qualms about killing civilians, but the presence of a large number of residents in Iraq's second city discouraged the jihadists from extensively sowing it with explosives, officers say.

While previous urban battlefields in Iraq's war against IS were largely depopulated by the time the country's forces moved in, Mosul still sheltered a million-plus people when the offensive to retake it was launched three months ago.

If explosives had been widely planted by the jihadists ahead of the battle, they would have been at risk of being triggered before Iraqi forces arrived.

So while the systematic mining of roads and rigging of buildings with bombs has arguably been IS's signature defence system against Iraqi forces, in Mosul, the jihadists had to change tack.

Iraqi forces have seen less booby-trapping in Mosul than in Anbar and Salaheddin provinces, where earlier key battles against IS took place, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a top commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

"The reason is the families remained in their neighbourhoods, in their houses," Assadi said.

Some residents of the city have ventured out of their homes just moments after the fighting died down, and in recaptured areas of eastern Mosul, stores are reopening, goods are displayed in front of shops, civilian cars and pedestrians move along some streets and children play outside.

- 'No comparison' -

Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, another senior CTS commander, said there was "no comparison" between the number of bombs planted in Mosul and those in Anbar province, where Iraqi forces retook the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from IS.

There are fewer because "here in Mosul, the residents didn't leave," Aridhi said.

"Now, when we advance into any neighbourhood, we don't think that the street is booby-trapped; our vehicles move normally."

IS needed civilians in Mosul to maintain at least the veneer of a functioning "state," and extensively planting bombs that could be triggered by residents would have both reduced their defensive utility and risked stoking popular anger against the jihadists.

This does not mean that IS has completely forgone the use of bombs in Mosul.

It is a "change of strategy" for IS, said Captain Qaisar Fawzi, an officer in an Iraqi army engineering battalion.

"They did not rely on roadside bombs, they relied on explosives-rigged vehicles," he added.

Vehicles rigged with bombs "are indeed the enemy's weapon of choice in the battle of Mosul," said Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for the US-led anti-IS coalition.

But, according to Assadi, in "important areas, the residents were displaced... and (IS) started to booby-trap them."

Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that bombs planted by IS have still posed a threat to civilians.

"People who are trying to flee Mosul... have stepped on booby-traps and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," killing some and wounding others, Grande said.

- Civilians obstacle to both sides -

And "based on experiences from other occupied areas, we're worried that IEDs have been planted by (IS) in schools, hospitals and other public buildings," she said.

The large numbers of civilians in Mosul have also hampered Iraqi offensive operations.

Aridhi said that while security forces could previously strike IS from a distance, "here, we are not able to use any fire, because citizens are present."

"We are delayed because people are present," he said.

Assadi agreed, saying that there is "little booby-trapping, few bombs, but (many) citizens whom we must protect."

Iraqi forces do however still use heavy weapons in Mosul: helicopters and warplanes have frequently carried out strikes inside the city, and artillery as well as large unguided rockets are fired inside it.

The combination of civilians staying in the city and the lower number of bombs planted inside it means life has returned to some recaptured areas in Mosul far quicker than in other cities retaken from IS.

Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah are still uninhabitable, but while some houses and buildings in Mosul have been wrecked and streets are cratered by bombs and strewn with rubble, other places have escaped largely unharmed.

"The booby-trapping began after the start of the Mosul operation," said resident Raed Mohammed, speaking to AFP at a roundabout in the city's east where street vendors were out selling goods, but which was still overlooked by an IS billboard and marred by damaged buildings.

People were going about their daily lives before that and, had the jihadists extensively planted bombs, "it's likely that they themselves would have been exposed to explosions."

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In Mosul battle, Iraq forces face fewer IS-planted bombs - Yahoo News

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region Iran will begin exporting natural gas to Iraq this week, Iran's oil minister said,years after the initial announcement of construction of an Iran-Iraq natural gas pipeline and postponements because of awaited payments from Baghdad, The additional fuel should supplement Iraq's under powered electricity grid.

Bijan Zangeneh, the Iranian oil minister, was reported by the Iranian news agency Tasnim as saying that the pumping of natural gas through the pipeline is slated to begin on Tuesday.

The pipeline connects the largest natural gas field in the world, the South Pars/North Dome Gas Condensate field, which is shared by Iran and Qatar, to the Iraqi city of Basra. The Basra Province has some of the country's largest natural gas power plants and a processing plant.

Rudaw reported in May 2016 that the pipeline will supply 50 million cubic-meters of gas per day, capable of generating 3,500 megawatts of power per day.

Though Iraq is a major OPEC oil producer, the country has been incapable of meeting its residents' electricity consumption. Iraq's peak electricity demand was 21,000 megawatts in the summer and the grid is only able to supply about 13,000 megawatts, Reuters reported last April.

Iran and Iraq signed a 2013 agreement regarding Iran's export of natural gas, but the pipeline wasn't completed until June 2016 because of security issues , then Tehran was awaiting payments from Baghdad.

Iran is ready to start the export of gas to Iraq and Iraq is also ready to receive the gas. However, the related letter of credit for the project is yet to be opened, Iran's oil ministry said earlier in January, cited by Irans Press TV.

He also announced through the ministry that the country's gas production had increased by 50-percent over the past three years because of improvements at South Pars.

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Iranian gas to flow into Iraq years after initial agreement - Rudaw

On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump traveled to the headquarters of the CIA, where he delivered a blistering attack on the media, lied about the size of his inaugural crowds, toyed with war crimes, and hinted at loosening restraints on U.S. forces fighting Islamist terror groups.

Trump said he chose to make a visit to the CIA his first public event because the media had created the false impression that Trump was in a feud with U.S. intelligence agencies. On Saturday, Trump attempted to embrace the intelligence community by delivering a campaign pep rally short on facts and long on vitriol.

I love you. I respect you, said the president, who ten days earlier likened U.S. spies to Nazi Germany for their role in publicizing an intel dossier packed with allegations that Russian intelligence services have compromising information on him.

There is nobody who feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump, Trump said, speaking before the wall at CIA headquarters engraved with black stars for the officers who died in the agencys service. Youre going to get so much backing that youre going to say, Please dont give us so much backing.

The substance of Trumps speech focused on the fight against what he called radical Islamic terrorism, echoing his inaugural line that it be eradicated off the face of the earth. While Trump did not offer any details on how he would do that, he hinted at a more aggressive approach in prosecuting the war on terrorism.

We have not used the real abilities that we have. We have been restrained. We have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice, Trump said. Were going to start winning again and you are going to be leading the charge.

At times, Trumps remarks veered into political territory unfamiliar to an agency that prides itself on remaining above the partisan fray. He attacked the media, bragged about his election, and bizarrely claimed huge crowds on inauguration day.

White House spokesperson Sean Spicer used his first press statement Saturday to deliver an angry broadside against the media and reports of the inaugural crowd size. These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong, he said.

Trump claimed between 1 and 1.5 million attended the inauguration; estimates put it closer to 250,000 attendees.

I have a running war with the media, Trump said. They are among the most dishonest human beings.

He repeatedly referenced the magnitude of his election victory. Probably almost everybody in this room voted for me, Trump said. Were all on the same wavelength, folks!

At one point, Trump regurgitated parts of his stump speech about how the United States should have kept the oil after invading Iraq. Maybe well have another chance, he added. Aside from being physically impossible to sequester billions of barrels of underground oil, that would constitute a breach of international law. U.S. troops are currently embedded with forces of the country that Trump suggested again invading.

Democrats immediately pounced on the appearance. After he finished ranting about crowd sizes on on the National Mall, I hope President Trump sat down for an interview with theCIA to help their investigation into his teams possible collusion withthe Kremlin to win the election, DNC senior adviser Zac Petkanas said in a statement.

During his remarks, Trump revealed what appeared to be an abbreviated hiring process for his pick to be CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.). Trump claimed he spoke with Pompeo once and was immediately so impressed with him that he cancelled his other interviews for the job.

Speaking in the lobby of the CIA before a crowd of about 300 agency employees whod entered a raffle to be able to attend Trump seemed to cherish his role as a real estate developer more than neophyte commander in chief. He told the group they would need a bigger room for his next visit, and that they should lose Langleys unsightly columns.

Maybe it will be built by somebody who knows how to build, and we wont have columns! Trump declared.

Olivier Doulier Pool/Getty Images

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Trump Goes to CIA to Attack Media, Lie About Crowd Size, and Suggest Stealing Iraq's Oil - Foreign Policy (blog)

While reports of ISIS outright defeat in Iraq are dramatically overstated, theres no denying that after over a year of heavy offensives, theyve lost a lot of territory, and dont constitute much of a de facto state there any longer. This is believed to be shifting ISIS focus to the west, into neighboring Syria.

The assumption is that this focus shift is a major reason why ISIS is so heavily committing to its ongoing offensive in the Deir Ezzor Province, where theyve seized several districts of the capital city, and are trying to advance toward the key military airport in the area.

The airport on the outskirts of Deir Ezzor has long been seen as a huge strategic goal for ISIS, and has been attacked repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully. It is the last military airport in eastern Syria which has never fallen to a rebel faction.

ISIS seems to be shifting away from territorial holdings in Iraq, and back toward a transitional insurgency, while in Syria they look to be trying to double down on protecting their territory, which is still substantial, and are likely to try to make pushes like the Deir Ezzor offensive to shore up their control over the eastern half of the country.

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ISIS Shifts Focus to Syria as They Lose Ground in Iraq - Antiwar.com

Joel Wing, a high school social studies teacher in Oakland, was at home working on his MacBook Air one recent afternoon when he saw troubling news out of Baghdad.

The United Nations had just released its estimate for the number of soldiers and other fighters killed in Iraq in November: 1,959 security forces dead, a number that looked like the highest monthly total in two years.

But that wasnt what was really troubling Wing. The U.N. also announced that it would be releasing no future combatant casualty estimates: Iraqi military commanders had been criticizing the reports, calling their numbers inaccurate and much exaggerated, and the international agency was bowing out until a sound methodology of verification can be found to better substantiate the figures.

It was a sad moment for tracking the violence and security situation in Iraq, said Wing, who immediately fired back on his nine-year-old blog, Musings on Iraq.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said that those figures were exaggerated without giving any correction of its own, Wing wrote, noting that the U.N.s decision, will create a huge gap in keeping up with the cost of the war.

Someone would have to fill it. For many who have followed the war in Iraq and the number of lives it has claimed, that would be Wing.

The 47-year-old teacher at Oakland Technical High School has never been to Iraq, but he has become one of the go-to sources for reliable data and trends on the violent toll of the 14-year-old conflict in the troubled country.

Wing, a native of Berkeley who earned a bachelors and masters in international relations at San Francisco State University, then a teaching credential at nearby Mills College, has been teaching English and social studies at Oakland Technical High School since 1995.

Back then, Wings main passion was music. He played bass in several punk, ska and heavy metal bands: Dance Hall Crashers, Corrupted Morals, Bumblescrump and Desecration. Rasputin Records in Berkeley put his photo in the window on Telegraph Avenue, and as the bands toured, he got to know members of big-league groups like Metallica and Green Day.

But when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Wing found himself deeply troubled and was determined to understand the country. He launched his blog as a way to reflect and connect with experts.

Four years ago, as he sensed a battle looming to confront the militant group Islamic States widening hold on territory, he began compiling and posting casualty figures. Soon, academics and experts around the world began following his work.

Wing is older now, with shorter, spiky black hair and glasses, but still has no particular political agenda and takes no outside funding for his blog. His twitter profile photo is of Raiden, the Japanese god of thunder and lightning recently popularized in the Mortal Kombat video game (and the 1986 cult classic Big Trouble in Little China).

Wing reads 44 English and Arabic language newspaper daily, with the help of Google Translate, and has always posted regular analysis, civilian and combatant casualty totals.

Since the offensive began to retake Mosul, he expanded his blog to include daily analysis of the attacks.

He has shared interviews with Iraq experts, including Bruno Geddo, head of the U.S. refugee agency in Iraq, the governor of Anbar province, former military commanders, CIA analysts and diplomats.

Wing compiles figures from attacks reported in the media as well as from U.N. figures. He includes locations, allowing him to report that 63% of attacks last year occurred in the provinces surrounding Baghdad and Mosul.

The totals represent a disturbing trend: The number of Iraqi combatants killed in November was 1,988, the highest monthly death toll since Islamic State seized Mosul in June 2014 and more than all the Americans killed each year since the 2003 invasion.

(A total of 4,514 U.S. forces have been killed in Iraq, with the highest death toll occurring in 2007, when 904 Americans were killed, according to the icasualties website.)

Wing loves to network and talks to everyone, from contractors removing roadside bombs in Fallujah to Iraqi reporters in Baghdad, one of whom was killed in a bombing last year which was documented on his blog.

Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, called Wing a committed Iraqi analyst very emblematic of how technology mixed with obsessive interest can nowadays create experts in unconventional ways.

His work is a solid collation of open source data and decent trend spotting from the data. It is a legitimate source. He spotted a lot of stuff before traditional analysts and even intel agencies, Knights said.

Hamit Dardagan, who co-founded the London-based Iraq Body Count website in 2003, which tracks mainly civilian casualties, called Wing amazing, his numbers credible.

Dardagan said Iraqi government criticism of the release of casualty statistics appears politically motivated.

Combatant casualty figures are closely guarded by Iraqi military commanders, who see them as damaging to morale and a propaganda boost for Islamic State.

Theyre concerned about winning and anything that might weaken morale is something theyre going to be very careful with, Dardagan said.

As Wing sees it, hes providing a public service. Violence is part of everyday Iraqi life. Its important to keep track of whats going on and how much the violence has cost the country in terms of peoples lives, he said.

Theres a history of such laymen tracking Iraq casualties. After the 2003 invasion, a Bay Area anti-war activist and Georgia software engineer built the icasualties.org site into the most reliable source for accurate figures on U.S. casualties there and, later, in Afghanistan. But that website, like others of its kind, doesnt track Iraqi combatants.

Wing has faced his share of scrutiny from Iraq experts.

All of these people are in Washington, D.C., and theyre like, Who is this Joel Wing guy? Why is he in California? A high school teacher?, Wing said as he sat in his classroom after school one recent afternoon, the wall covered with whiteboards and photos from dozens of former pupils.

Hes had a student serve in Afghanistan, but not in Iraq. His 12th grade American history students, whom he calls my kids, seem to take only a passing interest in his blog and the Iraq books on his desk (hes reading Sir John Chilcots 12-volume report on the war, published in July).

Wing tries to limit blogging to his lunch, conference period and after school, but that doesnt always work. His girlfriend has taken to calling his MacBook your other girlfriend, he said, because Im always on the computer doing Iraq stuff.

The Pentagon has asked Wing to come work for them as an analyst, but he declined. He also declined two opportunities to travel to Iraq, once when the U.S. ambassador asked him to serve at the embassy for six months. He cant leave his 140 students behind, he says.

I'm very committed to teaching at a public urban school, Wing said, and wasn't going to step away from the kids for that much time.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf

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Who's tracking casualties in Iraq? A California high school teacher - Los Angeles Times