Rare view of the carnage caused by an IED blast on Iraqis in Mosul

Those who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom know the destruction and devastation IEDs can cause to military vehicles, human bodies, minds and souls. For the Iraqis who have been fighting to retake Mosul from ISIS for almost seven months, this is an everyday occurrence -likely at a higher rate than any US war fighters ever saw in Iraq.

A recently surfaced video purports to show Iraqi forces encountering a large IED with up-armored Humvees; the same used by the US forces before a gradual upgrade to MRAPs in 2008. After the explosion, emotional Iraqi fighters attempt to make their way through the chaos to render aid and evacuate their wounded brethren. As a viewer who has spent years in Iraq, it is hard not to empathize as my eyes have viewed this same carnage with the only difference being the nationality of soldiers in the uniforms.

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” The coalition against ISIS hopes to completely expel ISIS from the city of Mosul by the end of the month but more casualties will be an inevitable price of victory.

So far, the fight for Mosul has been deadly to Iraqi forces and civilians alike. Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, said during a US congressional hearing in March that the offensive had left 774 Iraqi security forces dead and 4,600 wounded.

Iraq’s military has yet to release any information on casualties.

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