|
Mosul: Iraqi forces 'liberate' east from ISIL fighters
[Al Jazeera] The Iraqi army announced on Sunday that all districts of djinn-infested Mosul... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... east of the Tigris River had been cleared of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS) fighters, after retaking two areas. Government forces also said that the army has sealed control of the east, with the exception of al-Rashidiya neighbourhood, located north of the city. A military statement announced that the Iraqi army recaptured "Al-Milayeen neighbourhood and al-Binaa al-Jahiz area, and raised the Iraqi flag over the buildings." "These are the last neighbourhoods of the centre of the city (on) the left bank," the statement added, referring to eastern Mosul. According to the statement, federal forces had retaken control of the road linking Mosul, Iraq's second city, to Dohuk, a scenic provincial capital in the west of the autonomous region of Kurdistan. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, had already declared the city's east "liberated" on Wednesday, and has previously said that the group would be driven out of the country by April. Residents of parts of eastern Mosul have already attempted to resume a normal daily life, despite the circulation of goods being restricted. Also on Sunday, dozens of students gathered at the gate of the University of Mosul, which had been the group’s headquarters throughout its rule which began in 2014. They celebrated the recapture of one of the country's most prestigious institutions, but now severely damaged due to the fighting, by chanting slogans, raising an Iraqi flag above the campus entrance, and a banner calling for its reopening. In a separate incident, ISIS destroyed a landmark hotel in an attack in Western Mosul on Friday, as an attempt to prevent government forces advancing from potentially utilizing it as a base. According to witnesses, the kaboom on the Mosul Hotel left the pyramid shaped building tilted to one side. The hotel stands close to the Tigris River, which divides the city. Government forces are reportedly preparing to attack the western bank in efforts force out ISIS group fighters in Mosul, their last major stronghold in the country. Posted by: Fred 2017-01-23 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=479294 |