In Eastern Mosul, Liberated From ISIS, Battle Rages ‘Day and Night’<br />Many residents still use the Islamic State-imposed term "jinod al-dawla," or "soldiers of the state." The militants<br />forbade residents to use the term Daesh, an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State that some consider pejorative.<br />Even as American-backed Iraqi forces prepare an offensive against the Islamic State stronghold in western Mosul, people in Rashidiya<br />are scratching out a primitive existence, deprived of electricity, running water and other essential city services.<br />Rashidiya was the last district in eastern Mosul declared liberated in late January,<br />but army officers say Islamic State sleeper cells remain entrenched.<br />With bridges over the Tigris destroyed by coalition aircraft to cut Islamic State supply lines,<br />the fighters use small boats to ferry men and supplies from western Mosul, residents said.<br />Residents of eastern Mosul sprinted home, terrified by the latest attack by the Islamic State,<br />and demoralized by the certainty that more would be coming.<br />Residents say they are repeatedly targeted by Islamic State snipers, mortars and grenade-dropping drones that buzz overhead several times a day.
