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Mosul Offensive News
 Iraqi forces capture symbolic mosque in Mosul (Reuters) Iraqi forces captured on Thursday the wrecked historic mosque of Mosul in which Islamic State proclaimed its self-styled “caliphate” three years ago, an Iraqi military statement said. Taking the Grand al-Nuri Mosque hands a symbolic victory to the Iraqi forces which have been battling for more than eight month to capture Mosul, the northern city that served as Islamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq. The insurgents blew up the medieval mosque and its landmark leaning minaret a week ago, as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces started a push in its direction. Their black flag had been floating on al-Hadba, the ”hunchback” minaret, since June 2014. Iraqi forces capture another mosque, church Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government troops resumed advances against Islamic State militants in western Mosul’s Old City on Thursday, recapturing another mosque and a medieval church. The Federal Police’s media office said forces took over al-Saa’a Church and Omar al-Aswad mosque in Bab Jadid neighborhood in the Old City. The centuries-old church had been ransacked by Islamic State militants in 2015 and was turned into a reservoir for items looted by the group from security agents’ homes, according to Sputnik. The statement also said 20 children were rescued from the neighboring al-Shifa district where troops took over a few medical facilities and an orphanage. The development comes a few hours after the Iraqi army said it took over the Grand Nuri Mosque, the birthplace of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”, marking a symbolic collapse of the group’s rule in Iraq. Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and allied paramilitary troops, took over eastern Mosul in January, and aimed at the western side of the city starting mid February. There are a few hundred militants believed to be in the Old City, holding at least 50.000 civilians captives. Meanwhile, DPA quoted an Iraqi medical source saying that more than 204 civilians, including children below 13 years, died by Islamic State and security forces fires over the past week. Saadullah al-Khaffaf, a field doctor escorting Iraqi forces, told the agency that those had been killed while escaping the Old City, adding that the number is prone to increasing as there are hundreds othes stranded at areas still under the militants’ control. He said the number does not include those bombed while at home. 600 Bad Guys die in final push for Mosul Mosul (IraqiNews.com) More than 600 Islamic State fighters had been killed and 900 families were set free from western Mosul’s Old City as Iraqi forces took over the group’s birthplace mosque on Thursday. Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, was quoted by Rudaw network saying Iraqi forces killed more than 600 Islamic State militants as they took over Nuri al-Kabir mosque, the place where the group’s founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of the group’s rule in 2014. “Daesh (Islamic State) fighters are fighting ferociously, but have failed to stop advances by Iraqi troops,” he said. According to Assadi, IS is still in control over al-Maydan, Serjkhana and Ras al-Khour, all areas in the Old City, and forces are attempting to drive them out of those areas. His remarks came at odds with a statement by the Defense Ministry confirming that no areas were under IS control anymore in western Mosul. Sabah al-Noaman, a spokesperson of the CTS, also said only a few groups of IS were hiding at some areas of the Old City while trying to find a way out. He said forces freed more than 900 families from the district. “The return of al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba minaret to the fold of the nation marks the end of the Daesh state of falsehood,” Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi said in a statement earlier on Thursday. Posted by: badanov 2017-06-30 |
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