Iraqi forces wary of potential ISIS CBR attacks
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces stormed on Wednesday more districts in eastern Mosul as operations continue to clear that region from Islamic State militants.
The army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service forces invaded on Wednesday al-Maliya district, and moved deeper in April 7th and Seddiq neighborhoods in the same region. Forces engaged in ferocious fights with IS fighters at those regions, according to Rudaw agency, which also said aerial bombardment killed 60 militants.
Meanwhile, Federal Police forces said they arrested six militants, including a Syrian, at al-Mithaq district, south of the city.
Also on Wednesday, a spokesperson of the oil ministry said ministry teams put out fires set by IS combatants at an oil field south of Mosul, bringing the total of oil wells extinguished by the ministry, since militants pulled out from the town of Qayyara, to 17.
As commanders said recently they were preparing to storm the strategic Mosul University campus, a vital IS hideout, senior CTS commander, Sami al-Aridi, said the move needs “special plans” due to reports that the campus might contain “chemical substances” taken by the militants from university labs for combat purposes.
“Mosul University is an outstanding target, and has to have a special plan,” Aridi said in press statements. “Security forces have taken all precautions anticipating that Daesh(Islamic State) could strike back at the forces with chemical substances.”
Iraqi forces have become in control over nearly 50 out of 84 districts in eastern Mosul, and commanders declared earlier this week they had reached the eastern bank of the Tigris River, which bisects the city. IS still maintains strongholds in the west.
Iraqi military media have put the number of IS militants killed since the launch of operations in October at at least 1757.
Kops, Army capture 3 east Mosul districts
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army and police forces recaptured on Wednesday three districts in the eastern side of Mosul as operations resume to retake the city from Islamic State militants.
Commander of the joint forces operations in Nineveh, Abdul-Amir Yarallah, said the forces recaptured the Nissan 7th (April 7th) neighborhood and raised the Iraqi flag above its buildings. The forces had stormed the district earlier on Wednesday along with al-Maliya and Seddiq districts.
Also on Wednesday, Federal Police service commander, Shaker Jawdat, said his forces took ovre al-Salam and al-Saheroun neighborhoods. Police said earlier they arrested six IS members in the south.
Iraqi forces have become in control over nearly 50 out of 84 districts in eastern Mosul, and commanders declared earlier this week they had reached the eastern bank of the Tigris River, which bisects the city. IS still maintains strongholds in the west.
Iraqi military media have put the number of IS militants killed since the launch of operations in October at at least 1757.
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson of the oil ministry said ministry teams put out fires set by IS combatants at an oil field south of Mosul, bringing the total of oil wells extinguished by the ministry, since militants pulled out from the town of Qayyara, to 17.
As commanders said recently they were preparing to storm the strategic Mosul University campus, a vital IS hideout, senior CTS commander, Sami al-Aridi, said the move needs “special plans” due to reports that the campus might contain “chemical substances” taken by the militants from university labs for combat purposes.
“Mosul University is an outstanding target, and has to have a special plan,” Aridi said in press statements. “Security forces have taken all precautions anticipating that Daesh(Islamic State) could strike back at the forces with chemical substances.”
2 ISIS operatives die in work accident in Mosul
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province revealed that two members of the Islamic State group were killed by an improvised explosive device explosion, west of Mosul, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said, “Two members of the Islamic State were killed by the explosion of an improvised explosive device, which they were transferring in a vehicle, near al-Resala neighborhood, west of Mosul.”
“The explosion of the 50-kilogram IED was strong and inflicted losses to the nearby residential houses,” the source further added.
The Islamic State extremist group is still controlling the neighborhoods west of Mosul that contain a large number of explosives factories belonging to the group.
Iraqi forces converge on Mosul University
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An official source in Nineveh Province revealed that joint security forces besieged the building of the University of Mosul, after liberating three districts north of the province, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.
The source said, “Iraqi joint security forces besieged the University of Mosul, after liberating the districts of Baladiyat, Hadba and Seddiq.”
“The University of Mosul is one of the key strongholds of the Islamic State in the eastern side of Mosul,” the source explained. “The Islamic State stole and transferred the contents of the university to an unknown destination,” the source further added.
Earlier today, security forces liberated the neighborhoods of Seddiq, Maliya and Nissan 7th in eastern Mosul, and raised Iraqi flag over their buildings.
Iraqi Forces Advance Further into Northeast Mosul
Government forces in Iraq made new advances against terror group ISIS territory in eastern Mosul, fighting militants in areas near the Tigris river on Wednesday, military officials said. The progress is sought to sustain momentum of a renewed offensive against ISIS’ last major Iraqi stronghold.
Elite troops have pushed into a several neighborhoods in the east and northeast of the city in the past few days as they try to reach the Tigris River bisecting Mosul before launching an offensive on the west, all of which the militants still hold.
The rubble of a bridge blown up by ISIS in Mosul to block advancing Iraqi forces has become a lifeline for civilians as more and more of the northern city breaks loose from the grip of the ultra-hardline militants.
Men and women, children and the elderly scramble down the banks of the Khosr River, a tributary of the Tigris some 30 meters wide and a meter deep which counter-terrorism forces crossed last week in a nighttime raid.
The counter-terrorism service (CTS) were advancing into the northeastern Sadeeq and 7th Nissan districts, according to a senior commander on the ground.
A Reuters reporter in eastern Mosul saw CTS forces fighting ISIS militants in Sadeeq, firing towards Mosul University and into the adjacent Hadba area, which army units advancing from the north had breached a day earlier.
The forces are expected to meet somewhere in between.Tank shells, machinegun fire and air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition backing the Iraqis targeted ISIS gunmen holed up in a handful of buildings nearby. The militants detonated several car bombs and returned gunfire.
During their attack, Iraqi soldiers repeatedly diverted their attention to the sky to fire their machine guns at white commercial drones circling a few hundred meters in the air.
They were unable to down the aircraft, which ISIS uses for reconnaissance, to record its suicide attacks and to drop grenades behind its enemy’s lines.