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Iraqi forces capture Razkia village
(IraqNews.com) Nineveh – Government forces have liberated the village of Razkia, south of Mosul, from Islamic State militants, commander of the liberating operations said on Sunday.

Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of the liberating operations codenamed “We Are Coming, Nineveh”, said in a press statement that the army’s 9th Armored Brigade has liberated the village of Razkia on al-Zab axis from the southwestern direction.

“The forces raised the Iraqi flag in the village after causing the enemy severe losses in lives and equipment,” said Yarallah.

The operation, carried out by Iraqi government forces, US air forces and al-Hashd al-Shaabi militias have been widely successful, driving out Islamic state fighters out of several parts of Mosul, the extremist group’s last bastion in Iraq. The group had renounced reference to Mosul as the capital of its proclaimed “Caliphate”, with many of its members reportedly attempting to flee to Syria.

Iraqi forces capture T-55 tank near Hayy al-Intsar

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Media officials with the Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday seizing a tank carrying equipment and rockets in the southwestern axis of Mosul.

The officials said in a press statement that the troops of the army’s 9th Armored Brigade confiscated a T-55 tank loaded with equipment and rockets in Hayy al-Intsar area in the southeastern axis of Mosul.

The joint security forces, backed by Army Aviation and international coalition are advancing in the military operations to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State’s grip, after the General Commander of the Armed Forces, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced launching the battle to liberate the city of Mosul in

Iraqi forces in "temporary" retreat near Mosul

[AAWSAT] Baghdad- The Iraqi Army resumed fighting in Mosul left coast after a temporary withdrawal, as described by a military Iraqi leader to Asharq al-Awsat. The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that this is a “tactical withdrawal that is imposed by the conditions at sometimes, conditions of the battle that has entered a decisive phase in the meantime.”

Iraqi forces withdrew from several towns which were earlier seized as well as other towns due to ISIS fighting back and to avoid loss of souls, revealed the source. “It is true that this delays the outcome of the battle, however it protects our military forces because we are keen to prevent blood-shedding… ISIS is calling us for this battle which represents a suicide to the organization but to us it is a battle of liberation and should be conducted based on correct military bases,” added the source.

The source said that there is no need to make free sacrifices just because the enemy is willing to send more suicide attackers.

The resumption of Mosul operations coincided with the arrival of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to leadership of special operations in Nineveh for the sake of checking the battle inputs—this is the second visit since the commencement of the battle of Mosul twenty days ago.

Hisham al-Hashimi, an intelligence adviser to the Iraqi government, told Asharq al-Awsat that despite the importance of the air force in Mosul battle, yet it can’t interfere in some towns in the left coast of Mosul because it can’t differentiate between the enemy and the friend.

Iraqi forces in building clearing operations in eastern Mosul

[AlArabiya] Iraqi special forces cleared buildings on Saturday in neighborhoods they entered in eastern Mosul a day earlier, after pushing out ISIS militants in their drive to take back the city.

Fighting continued in the morning, with both sides firing mortars and automatic weapons on each other’s positions, while the Iraqi troops also responded with artillery. Clashes were most intense in the al-Bakr neighborhood. Sniper duels played out from rooftops in the mostly residential areas, where the majority of buildings are two stories high.

“Daesh is in the city center and we must be very careful as our forces advance,” said Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces, using the Arabic acronym for the ISIS group. With more densely packed neighborhoods ahead, his forces will be challenged to avoid both higher military and civilian casualties.

As he spoke, dozens of civilians in the Tahrir and Zahara districts emerged from their homes, some of them carrying white flags, and headed toward the troops to be evacuated from the battlefield.

People see their relatives who had fled from Mosul at a fence surrounding Al-Khazer refugee camp, east of Mosul, Iraq November 4, 2016. (Reuters)

The special forces launched a two-pronged assault deeper into Mosul’s urban center on Friday, unleashing the most intense street battles against ISIS militants since the offensive to retake the city began nearly three weeks ago. At least seven special forces troops have been killed in the fighting.

More than 3,000 Iraqi troops took part in the assault under heavy US-led coalition air support, but the pace of the fight also slowed as Iraqi forces moved from fighting in more rural areas with few civilians to the tight, narrow streets of Mosul proper. At least seven suicide attackers in explosives-laden vehicles attacked troops on Friday, five of whom were killed before nearing their targets.

The operation to retake Mosul is expected to take weeks if not months. Moving from neighborhood to neighborhood in house-to-house battles through warrens of booby-trapped buildings is time consuming and Iraq’s military has repeatedly opted for slower operations in an effort to minimize casualties.

Some 1 million civilians still remain in the city, complicating the advance.

ISIS militants have driven thousands of residents deeper into the city’s built-up areas to be used as human shields, while hundreds of others have fled toward government-controlled territory and thousands have headed west into Syria.

Mosul is the last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, and expelling the militant group from the city would be a major blow to the survival of its self-styled “caliphate” that stretches into Syria.

Iraqi forces have made uneven progress in closing in on the city since the operation began on Oct. 17. Advances have been slower from the south, with government troops still some 20 miles (35 kilometers) away. Kurdish fighters and Iraqi army units are deployed to the north, while government-sanctioned Shiite militias are sweeping in from the west to try to cut off any ISIS escape route.

Some advances are being made in the south, however. On Saturday, Iraqi forces assaulted ISIS positions in the town of Hamam al-Alil, which lies along the Tigris river about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the southernmost parts of Mosul.

Kurdish television channel Rudaw broadcast live footage of Iraqi troops and armored vehicles amassing outside the city as an attack helicopter fired rockets into the city.

Truckloads full of as many as 1,600 civilians may have been forcibly moved from Hamam al-Alil to Tal Afar earlier this week and could be transferred onward into Syria for likely use as human shields, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned Friday. Another 150 families from the town were moved to Mosul itself, the UN said.

People see their relatives who had fled from Mosul at a fence surrounding Al-Khazer refugee camp, east of Mosul, Iraq November 4, 2016.
Posted by: badanov 2016-11-07
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