10 ISIS troops die fighting Iraqi militia
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Shia militias fighting Islamic State militants with the Iraqi government said Monday they killed 10 militants on Monday in western Mosul as government forces became much closer to recapture the eastern region of the city.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said via their media service that the militias foiled an attack by IS combatants and rendered two of their vehicles inoperational at the region of Adaya.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi, a conglomerate of mainly Shia militias, have been actively engaged in the government campaign running since mid October to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, from Islamic State militants who had occupied the city in 2014.
In November, al-Hashd recaptured a strategic airport near the town of Tal Afar, an outstanding IS stronghold west of Mosul, saying that the victory was a major step towards isolating the extremist group from Iraq and from its strongholds in Syria.
Meanwhile, joint government forces, backed by fighter jets and advisers from a US-led international military coalition, have become closer to recapturing the eastern section of Mosul, reaching on Sunday the eastern bank of the Tigris River, which cuts through the city.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi predicted in December to retake Mosul within two months.
45 ISIS troops die in airstrikes near Mosul
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] 45 turbans of the so-called ’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) terrorist group were killed on Monday and labs for booby-trapping and shielding were destroyed in strikes by the Iraqi air force and the international coalition that affected several areas of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
province, Military Media Unit reported.
"Based on information provided by the Directorate General of Intelligence and Security, the aerial Hawks [air force] launched several successful air strikes, which resulted in the destruction of vehicles’ shielding and booby-trapping labs," the unit said in a statement.
Three other explosives-laden vehicles were destroyed and 25 bad boyz were potted in different neighborhoods of the city, the statement added.
Moreover, the unit underlined that "the international coalition warplanes ‐ in coordination with the Directorate General of Intelligence and Security ‐ managed to launch an air strike that killed 20 Lions of Islam in the al-Ibra village of Tal Afar."
Iraqi special forces continue their advance
(Reuters) Iraqi special forces made further advances against Islamic State in Mosul on Monday, pushing militants out of another eastern district and edging closer to linking up with army units nearby, officers in the northern Iraqi city said.
The Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) said it was working to seize areas overlooking Mosul university in the city’s northeast, after taking over a nearby district.
The advances brought more of eastern Mosul under Iraqi forces’ control a day after elite units reached the Tigris river, as the U.S.-backed offensive to drive Islamic State from its last city stronghold in the country pressed ahead with renewed vigour.
Reaching the river, which runs through the city centre, will allow Iraqi forces to begin assaults on western districts still held by Islamic State.
The jihadists have fought back fiercely with suicide car bombs and snipers. Using a network of tunnels and operating close to Mosul’s civilian population, they slowed Iraqi advances in November and December. Islamic State has also killed dozens of Iraqis in attacks in Baghdad and other cities as it comes under increased pressure.
“The Baladiyat neighbourhood is done (recaptured) and Sukkar should be done before nightfall,” Major-General Sami al-Askari of the CTS told a Reuters reporter in Mosul.
“This area is very important because it overlooks the university. It is a central district … If it falls we will control the forests, the presidential palaces and the eastern bank of the Tigris,” he said.
Askari said Islamic State has used the university’s laboratories to make biological weapons and store chemicals.
The CTS were also close to linking up with the army nearby, a commander in a regular army unit said.
“They will soon liberate other areas and hopefully finish the eastern side … God willing we will soon announce the liberation of the entire eastern side from Daesh (Islamic State),” Major-General Najm al-Jubbouri told another Reuters reporter in the al-Hadba apartments complex.
Soldiers posed for photos with black Islamic State flags, and the corpses of several Islamic State fighters could be seen.
There were signs that fierce fighting still raged in parts of the complex, however. Islamic State fighters had carried out four to five suicide car bomb attacks in the area since Friday, several officers said.
Monday’s advances also consolidated Iraqi forces’ control of several districts close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, east of the river.
CTS forces reached the east bank of the Tigris in an area further south on Sunday, an advance which will eventually enable them to begin assaults on the city’s west.
The offensive against the group, which began in October, stalled last month but has regained momentum in the last week.
Recapturing Mosul after more than two years of Islamic State rule would probably spell the end of the Iraqi wing of the group’s self-declared caliphate, which spans areas of Iraq and Syria.
40 ISIS Bad Guys die fighting Iraqi federal kops
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Federal Police Command in Nineveh Province announced on Monday, that more than 40 members of the Islamic State were killed, southeast of Mosul, while pointed out to the destruction of four booby-trapped vehicles.
The Command said in a statement, “Federal Police forces managed to kill 40 members of the Islamic State terrorist group, while liberating Falastin neighborhood, southeast of the city of Mosul.”
“Security forces also managed to detonate four booby-trapped vehicles belong to the extremist group, before reaching military troops, without any casualties among the security ranks,” the statement added.
Earlier today, We Are Coming Nineveh Operations Command announced liberating Falastin neighborhood in eastern Mosul, as well as raising Iraqi flag over its buildings.
Iraqi forces capture 3 districts in Mosul
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi joint forces recaptured on Monday three districts in the eastern section of Mosul from Islamic State militants, hours after the army announced reaching the Tigris River which bisects the city.
The defense ministry’s War Media Cell said in a statement that Federal Police and Rapid Intervention Forces recaptured Domiz district in the eastern section and raised Iraqi flags at the area’s buildings.
Meanwhile, Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the joint operations in Nineveh, said the forces had also managed to recapture al-Baladiyat district
Federal Police services also said in a statement they had retaken Palestine district and killed 35 Islamic State militants.
Iraqi government forces, backed by US-led international forces and popular militias, have been carrying out a major campaign since October to retake Mosul from IS militants who captured the city in 2014.
Security officials say they currently control nearly 70 percent of the eastern section, and said Sunday they reached the eastern bank of the Tigris River, which divides the city into two sections. IS still maintain strongholds in the west near the borders with Syria.
In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he predicts the battle for Mosul to realize victory over IS within two months.