Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
Reported by the The Guardian, based on Iraqi government sources, with my emphasis:

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...le-east-states

I take the numbers with a "pinch of salt", but my reading today shows that a posting to Mosul was not desirable, for soldiers and police who were not locals (so mainly Shia dominated units?), with regular fighting, reliant on an air bridge and desertion was rife.
30,000 would be if the two divisions in Mosul were at full strength. No Iraqi unit is ever at those numbers due to people going on leave, etc.

ISIS had been attacking the security forces in Mosul relentlessly for over a year. Unlike violence in other provinces usually 50% or more of the casualties in Ninewa were members of the ISF. Insurgents tracked down where members lived, shot them in front of their homes, blew up their houses, etc. Ninewa Operations Command had to set up special flights for its members from Mosul to Baghdad because the highways south were unsafe. Mentioned before ISIS was stealing most of the salaries of the police in Ninewa as well. Going unpaid and sense of being besieged helps explain collapse of security in Mosul.