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Mosul Offensive News
Iraqi drones target ISIS gatherings in southern Mosul

[ALMASDARNEWS] Video footage emerged showing Iraqi Army drones targeting jihadist gatherings in the Wadi Akkab region of southern djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
A few months following the initiation of the Mosul military campaign, the Iraqi Armed Forces and their supporting Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have managed to capture approximately 50% of the province and about two-thirds of eastern Mosul.

Expelling the terror group from eastern Mosul seems only to be a matter of time at the current pace of advances. Fighting is expected to intensify when the Iraqi Army crosses into Mosul's eastern bank where ISIS is expected to mount stiff defenses.

Iraqi forces clear eastern Mosul districts

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces continued operations on Sunday to clear eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants, pushing towards new districts in the north and south of that region.

A security source was quoted by Shafaaq News website as saying that government artillery bombarded Islamic State locations in al-Kindi district, north of the eastern section of Mosul, preparing to storm the neighborhood.

Earlier on the same day, the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service forces invaded Sokkar and Baladiyat districts, also in the north.

Shafaaq News also quoted other security sources as saying that forces from the army’s 9th division and Federal Police waged an attack on Sumer and Domiz neighborhoods in the southeast.

Military officials said Saturday they became closer to the Tigris River, which bisects the city. Iraqi generals hope they will soon move onwards to the river’s western bank, where IS still maintain strongholds near the borders with Syria.

The Iraqi government launched operations last October, with backing from a U.S-led international military coalition, to retake the city of Mosul, IS’s biggest stronghold in Iraq which fell to the extremist group in 2014. PM Haider al-Abadi said in December he predicted the city to be cleared from militants in two months. Iraqi generals have said they became in control over 70 percent of the city’s eastern part.

ISIS burns hospital, university buildings

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Members of the Islamic State extremist group set a maternity hospital and some buildings of the University of Mosul ablaze, before withdrawing from them, BasNews reported on Sunday.

Commander of Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces, Abdel Wahab al-Saedi, in a press statement said, “The Islamic State group burned al-Khansa Maternity Hospital, as well as the buildings of faculties of Dentistry, Education, Arts and Economy in the University of Mosul, before withdrawing from them, due to the significant development achieved by security forces in the area.”

So far, Iraqi forces have retaken around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from the Islamic State militants. However, the western half of the city remains under the full control of Islamic State, which is fighting to hold on to its largest stronghold with snipers and suicide car bombs.

Iraqi forces repel ISIS attack in northern Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces managed to kill 10 militants from the self-proclaimed Islamic State, after repulsing their attack using four car bombs on a residential neighborhood, north of Mosul, a source told Al Mada Press on Sunday.

The source said that troops of the army’s 16th brigade managed, today, to destroy four booby-trapped vehicles belonging to the Islamic State, while trying to approach the area of al-Hadba apartments, north of Mosul.

“Security forces were able also to kill ten fighters of the Islamic State group during the attack,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

Noteworthy, security forces liberated the majority of the eastern side of Mosul since the start of operation ‘We Are Coming, Nineveh’ in October 17, 2016.

Posted by: Fred 2017-01-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=477978