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Mosul Offensive News
Iraqi kops claim capture of 61 villages

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Federal Police Chief, Raed Shaker Jawdat, announced liberating 61 villages and 1400 square kilometers during the battles to liberate Nineveh.

Jawdat said in a press statement, “Federal Police forces recaptured 61 villages, as well as liberating 1400 square kilometers of the province and evacuating 1369 families since starting the battles to liberate Nineveh.”

“747 ISIS terrorists were killed and 88 others were arrested during the battles,” Jawdat added.

“Security forces destroyed 164 booby-trapped vehicles belonging to the ISIS, 42 armed vehicles, 61 explosive belts and 47 booby-trapped motorcycles,” Jawdat explained. “We were also able to seize 25 vehicles, 170 pieces of weapons, 13 explosives plants, as well as dismantling 1066 improvised explosive devices,” Jawdat added.

Security forces from the army, al-Hashd al-Watani and Kurdish Peshmerga continue advancing in the liberation battles of Nineveh, backed by the international coalition and Iraqi aviation.

Kurds capture 2 more villages in Ninevah

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Kurdish Peshmerga forces managed to recapture two villages near Bashiqa, after besieging them for several days, media outlets reported on Sunday.

Al Sumaria News stated that Kurdish Peshmerga forces managed to storm into the villages of Kanona and Rozbayan in Bashiqa area, and pointed out that the two villages were besieged by the Peshmerga for several days.

“The military engineering brigades are now dismantling improvised explosive devices and other explosives in the two villages,” Al Sumaria added.

Security forces continue advancing in the battle to liberate Mosul from the ISIS grip, backed by Iraqi Army Aviation and international coalition air force, after General Commander of the Armed Forces announced launching the battle to liberate Mosul in 17 October 2016.

More from ARA News
Duhok – Kurdish Peshmerga forces hit Islamic State’s (ISIS) positions northeast of Mosul city on Sunday, and liberated four villages.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces expelled ISIS militants from the villages of Kanouna, Abu Jarbouh, Roshbiyan and Fadiliya.

“The liberated villages are located in the vicinity of Bashiqa town northeast of Mosul,” a Peshmerga spokesman told ARA News.

Engineering teams of the Peshmerga Ministry started on Sunday evening to clear the villages through dismantling explosives and landmines planted earlier by ISIS.

“Daesh terrorists have left behind a large deal of explosives around and inside those villages. Even civilian houses are filled with explosive devices, in an attempt by the terror group to kill as many people as possible,” the Kurdish official said, using another acronym for ISIS.

ISIS Under Siege
Sunday’s developments come just one week after the Kurdish troops launched an operation from two fronts in Bashiqa District, breaking through the Islamic State’s (ISIS) defensive lines and encircling the capital of the district, Bashiqa city.

Peshmerga spokesman Halgurd Hikmet told ARA News that forces on the Naweran and Bashiqa fronts have linked up. “We’ll wait […] to liberate Bashiqa, but first mine sweeping teams need to clean the villages,” he said.

A Peshmerga volunteer on the front told ARA News that the Peshmerga forces had cut off all of the roads from Mosul to Bashiqa. Kurdish soldiers are reportedly fortifying the newly unified front in anticipation of a breakout.

Thousands of Peshmerga soldiers participated in the multi-prong offensive, fighting to push ISIS out of Bashiqa District. “The operation follows recent, successful Peshmerga advances north and east of Mosul,” the Peshmerga General Command said in a statement last week.

“The morale of ISIS is gone; they have become very weak,” Peshmerga General Bahram Ali Siyasi, the commander of the Bashiqa operation, told ARA News. “Whereas the Peshmerga’s morale is high and their capabilities have improved, and the coalition has stepped up its support.”

Last week, the Kurdish forces secured more than 25 villages in the northeastern countryside of Mosul after clashes with ISIS.

Badr militia captures 5 villages

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – The Badr Organization announced on Sunday that it had liberated five villages west of the city of Mosul from the control of the Islamic State.

The organization’s brief statement mentioned that “Our forces managed to liberate the villages of lower al-Gorn, upper al-Gorn, al-Amrini, al-Salmani and al-Zarka, located west of the city Mosul, from ISIS control.”

“ISIS fighters retreated due to the advance of our liberation security forces,” the statement added.

Earlier today, the Badr Organization announced that 23 families who were held hostage by ISIS as human shields were freed in the village of al-Gorn from captivity.
Posted by: badanov 2016-10-31
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=471734