ISIL relying on waves of human bomb attacks as it loses grip on Mosul

Sunday Telegraph:

The Islamic State (Isil) has launched an “unprecedented” wave of suicide bombers, some of whom are children, against advancing Iraqi forces as the jihadist group struggles to hold on to its city stronghold of Mosul.

More than a hundred suicide bombers have hurled themselves at Iraqi troops since the Mosul offensive began on October 17, a rate of self-annihilation never before seen even by the extreme standards of Isil.

“The amount of people killing themselves is unprecedented. It’s completely different from anything we’ve seen before,” said Charlie Winter, a senior fellow at the ICSR think tank who tracks the use of suicide bombers.

On one particularly bloody day on the battlefield in Mosul there were 18 separate suicide attacks within 24 hours. Mr Winter said that was more attacks than the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, had carried out in 100 days.

Many of the 102 suicide attacks have been carried out using improvised armoured vehicles which are packed to the brim with explosives and then driven at high speed at oncoming enemies.

Iraqi troops showed The Sunday Telegraph a Jeep that Isil engineers had covered entirely with armour plating, leaving only a small square of the windscreen open so that the suicide bomber driver could see his target. The vehicle was captured in the Christian village of Karemlesh before it could be put to use.
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For ISIL this is becoming what appears to be a last stand and its true believers are marching to their death.  It has so far failed to change the shape of this battle.  It may, in the long run, make it easier to mop up after ISIL is driven from the area.

Human bomb attacks are mainly successful when used against noncombatants in crowded areas.  attacking infantry with them is not all that effective, when their targets are armed and ready to take them down.