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The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


17 civilians die in ISIS artillery attack in Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Seventeen civilians were killed and 13 others were injured on Thursday when Islamic State militants bombarded residential areas east of Mosul as government forces continued to storm neighborhoods to drive militants out.

Joint Operations major Shokr Mahmoud was quoted by Bas News as saying that the shelling targeted the districts of al-Bakr, al-Aalam, Muharibin and al-Zohour. He added that security forces evacuated civilians from those areas.

Iraqi generals have said they had become in control over 70 of Mosul’s eastern section. But IS militants have regularly bombed areas they have lost to security forces since operations kicked off in October to recapture Iraq’s second largest city.

Earlier on Thursday, Federal Police forces said they became 700 meters away from al-Salam hospital, a strategic bastion which militants captured from security forces a few weeks ago.

IS still maintains hideouts in the west close to its strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi generals and allied militia leaders say the group has become isolated from Syria and Iraq.

Security officials estimate the number of remaining IS combatants by 6000. But those are fighting against at least 100.000 government and militia soldiers.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in December the battle for Mosul was entering a “decisive” stage, and predicted that the operations could realize final victory within two months.

ISIS abducts civilian in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) The self-proclaimed Islamic State extremist group abducted a civilian from his house, northwest of Kirkuk, on charges of revealing information about the group’s members, a source told Al Mada Press on Thursday.

The source said, “Six members of the Islamic State sneaked, at late hour yesterday, into al-Tank neighborhood in Dibs District (55 km northwest of Kirkuk), and stormed into the house of a citizen named Khedr Mahmoud, who was killed earlier by the group, and took his two sons outside of the district.”

“The Islamic State’s members released the younger son midway, and took the other son to the group’s headquarters in the mountains,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

“The Islamic State accused the abducted son of revealing information about the group’s members who are disguised among families fleeing from areas south and west of Kirkuk,” the source further added.

ISIS executes one by dunking in liquid detergent
"Tough on stains, but gentle on skin"
[ARA News] Duhok – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday executed an Iraqi man in Mosul city by drowning him in a disinfectant detergent liquid.

The radical group released a video showing the brutal execution, claiming that the victim was spying for Iraqi government forces.

While drowning him, ISIS broadcasted a call between the man and an Iraqi radio station.

“This infidel has been supporting the Iraqi regime’s campaign to take Mosul,” one of the militants said, adding that the city needs to be cleansed with Dettol detergent.

According to Raafat al-Zarari, the head of Nineveh Media Centre, the execution was another attempt by ISIS to terrify the people of Mosul.

“The group considers anyone with suspicious activities as a spy for rival forces,” al-Zarari told ARA News. “These brutal executions will continue until ISIS is eliminated completely in Mosul.”

This comes as US-backed Iraqi forces started the second phase of the battle for Mosul against Islamic State’s militants.

On October 17th, 2016, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a major battle for Mosul to liberate the city and its surroundings from ISIS.
Posted by: badanov 2017-01-06
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=477667