Update for Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Today in Afghanistan
Some 5,000 people have fled from the Mosul area to al-Hol camp in Syria in recent days, where Save the Children says conditions are appalling and the facility is unprepared to receive more refugees. The camp is “littered with waste and faeces, with a looming risk of outbreaks of disease”. It said there are just 16 toilets shared by more than 9,000 people, many of whom only have access to dirty, untreated water.

Iraqi and Kurdish authorities set up a camp with 5,000 tents near Mosul. This will not be enough to receive the expected number of refugees, however.

The advance on Mosul is slowed by harrying tactics by IS defenders using suicide truck bombs. Often, as in the battle described here, they are destroyed by tank fire before they can be effective. However, defenders hang on with mortar and rifle fire.

Tribune News Services describes the military situation more generally. Despite the resistance, the far superior weaponry of the attacking forces, notably tanks, along with air support, makes slow but continual progress inevitable. This report also notes that Shiite militias have pledged only to capture Tal Afar, and not to enter Mosul.

Nevertheless Dexter Filkins is very concerned about the participation of Shiite militias in the operation,

Peshmerga forces have stopped their advance to consolidate their positions. They fight off a counterattack near Sinjar.

Here is a description of a battle in Bojwana village to the south of the city.

Iraqi armor is now said to be 3 or 4 miles from the city. This CNN story mentions several engagements.

Ibrahim al-Marashi looks forward to the aftermath of the fight for Mosul.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will face the daunting challenges of governing a post-ISIL Iraq and post-conflict security issues: first, the reintegration of territory and populations that were under ISIL control; second, agreeing to Iraq’s internal borders with the Kurds; and third, presiding over a fragmented, sectarian state to deal with the aforementioned issues. This is one of the few occasions where I find myself arguing for American interference in domestic Iraqi affairs.

Today in Afghanistan