ERBIL, Kurdistan – The minute-to-minute military developments of the Mosul offensive are trending on social media as Iraqi army officials circulate news of their operations via their own private social media accounts.
Many of them take to social media to share pictures of their operations as they happen and give their take on ISIS videos circulating online. Their social media pages are visited by people around the world.
These private social media outlets have increased the speed with which people can receive the news that relates to their lives, often upstaging the official government websites.
The people of Iraq wake up daily to the selfies and stories the Iraqi field commanders share with the general public, keeping them posted on the latest developments on the battlefield. This new trend in the Iraqi war coverage has gone viral with thousands of Iraqis sharing their pictures and stories.
On November 3, leader of the Iraqi joint forces, General Talib Shaghati Kanani, uploaded 19 pictures on Facebook about the Iraqi push into the Gogjali district in Mosul.
“I met with Nineveh’s head of police and director of civil defense today. They thanked the country’s counter-terrorism forces for their heroic role in liberating the Iraqi villages and towns near Mosul,” Kanani posted on November 3.
People are increasingly interacting with the Iraqi commanders via Facebook comments praying that they succeed in their war against ISIS, others criticizing the military leaders for abandoning Iraqi towns when ISIS took over large parts of Iraqi territory in June 2014, complaining, “Where were these military commanders when ISIS came?”
The Iraqi National Army website uploaded a video on November 4 in which a member of the country’s counter-terrorism appears smiling inside Mosul in the midst of fierce fighting in the city.
“We will surely succeed with this smile and endeavors on the frontlines,” the website commented on the video.
The leader of the Golden Brigade, Fazil Jameel Barwari, also reaches out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, posting stories of victory and selfies on the frontlines of the war against ISIS.
“Today’s selfie in front of Mosul’s TV building,” Barwari wrote on a video he posted on Facebook on November 2 with a video posted a day earlier entitled, “The victory selfies in Gogjali.”
These videos have been shared and commented on by numerous followers of his page.
