In the battle for Mosul, the enemy’s weapon of choice is what the U.S. military has dubbed the “Mad Max” suicide truck. Its technical name is the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, or VBIED.
The U.S. military says it has destroyed more than 60 of the armor-clad vehicles in the past month, as Iraqi forces have been closing on the Islamic State stronghold.
“As you can see, it’s reminiscent of a Mad Max vehicle, with armored plating in the front to protect the driver until he can detonate the explosives he’s carrying on board,” Col. John Dorrian told reporters at the Pentagon in a briefing from Baghdad Wednesday.
“The coalition has used strikes mostly from the air to destroy these anywhere that they can be found,” Dorrian said.
In addition to the more than five dozen hit since the start of the Mosul offensive on Oct. 17, the U.S. also destroyed hundreds of modified trucks during the shaping operations in the months preceding the final assault.
Iraqi security forces have met fierce resistance from Islamic State fighters as they engage in slow neighborhood-to-neighborhood fighting in the eastern part of the city.
Dorrian said Iraqi security forces are making progress despite what he called “extremely tough fighting.”
Islamic State fighters are showing no signs of giving up, Dorrian said, “taking human shields, dressing as ISF, and arresting people who react positively to their presence; arresting civilians for having phones, and using tunnels to infiltrate civilian neighborhoods.”
Dorrian gave no estimate on how much longer it would take for Iraqi forces to liberate the city.
“It’s very difficult to predict how long it’s going to take,” Dorrian said. “Eventually, the enemy is gonna break. It’s gonna take quite some time.”
