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Iraq
Mosul Offensive News
2017-01-30

Islamic State chief decapitator stabbed to death in western Mosul

Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) Unknown individuals have stabbed to death Islamic State’s chief decapitator west of Nineveh, according to a security source.

“An unknown armed group killed on Sunday the Islamic State’s most famous decapitator, the so-nicknamed ‘Abu Sayyaf’”, the source told Alsumaria News. “The armed group ambushed him at al-Dawasa region, in the western side of the city, and stabbed him several times. He died immediately,” he added.

Abu Sayyaf was the leading decapitator in the group’s so-called “Nineveh State”, according to the source. “He had beheaded 100 of violators of the group’s rule, and had used to dump the heads at a well-known hole in al-Khasafa region.

Several assassinations and kidnappings of Islamic State leaderships have been reported since the Iraqi government launched a major offensive in October to retake the city of Mosul, the extremist group’s biggest stronghold in Iraq.

Security operations, backed by a US.-led coalition and popular militias, managed to drive the militants out of the eastern side of the city on January 24th, with at least 3300 members killed, and forces are preparing to invade the group-held west.

Iraqi police head to western Mosul, child, 3 militants killed by drones

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police commander said Sunday his forces began moving towards western Mosul to begin operations seeking to recapture that region from Islamic State militants.

Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said Federal Police have completed their preparations for engagement in operations to recapture western Mosul.

In the west, local sources said drone attacks killed one child and three Islamic State members.

A source told Alsumaria News that three IS members, including a Syrian national nicknamed Abu Sarhan al-Souri, were killed in a presumed drone attack that targeted their vehicle near Islah al-Zerai district.

“Al-Souri is a leading (IS) security figure in western Mosul, and was behind many executions of civilians over the past months,” the source said.

Another local source told the network that a four-year-old child was killed and his parents were wounded by an IS-guided drone which dropped a bomb on them near al-Farouq district.

“The skies of the western side of Mosul have witnessed an obvious activity by Islamic State drones that fly towards the eastern districts,” said the source.

Police kill 9 IS militants south of Mosul, IS kill 4 PMU fighters in west

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police forces killed nine Islamic State militants in southern Mosul on Sunday after a foiled attack, while the extremist group killed four paramilitary fighters in the west.

Maj. Zaid Taha told Bas News website that police forces foiled an attack staged by IS members from several directions at Hammam al-Alil, a district recaptured by security forces in November.

“The forces thwarted the attack, killed nine militants, including a suicide bomber, and arrested four Arab nationals,” Taha said.

Meanwhile, in western Mosul, army captain Bashar Udai told the website that Islamic State militants killed four members of Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) after their booby-trapped vehicle stormed a PMU deployment in the strategic town of Tal Abta. Four militia members were also wounded in the attack, according to the military officer.

Iraqi joint forces and allied militias are awaiting orders from the government in Baghdad to begin an offensive against IS strongholds in western Mosul. Operations backed by a US-led international military coalition have managed to retake the whole of the city’s eastern regions since October.

Military officials predict a tougher battle in the west as the region is home to at least 750.000 civilians, a factor that had already slowed down operational progress at some occasions over the past three months.

Islamic State forces women to wear Afghan clothes in western Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province revealed that the Islamic State group is forcing women to wear Afghan clothes and carry weapons in western Mosul, Alsumaria News reported on Sunday.

The source said, “Leaders of the Islamic State group forced women in western Mosul to wear male Afghan attire, as well as carrying weapons to join the battle against security forces.”

“Meanwhile, members of the Islamic State executed three women, by firing squad, for refusing to join the combat against security forces in Refaei neighborhood, in western Mosul,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

Noteworthy, security forces are preparing to storm the areas in western Mosul, after three months of battles in the eastern side of the city and liberating it completely.

Army forces find mass grave containing remains of 27 Turkmens near Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An official source in the Joint Operations Command revealed that Iraqi army forces found a mass grave containing the remains of 27 Iraqi Turkmens in Rashidiyah area, in northern Mosul.

Colonel Thanon al-Sabawei said in a press statement, “Iraqi army forces discovered a mass grave, near the Turkmen-majority area of al-Kabba, containing remains of 27 men, youths and children.”

“The bodies have traces of torture, and the majority of them have ID cards,” Sabawei added.

“The Iraqi forces exhumed all bodies and transferred them to a health center near al-Rashidiyah area,” he further explained.

Airstrike destroys Islamic State’s headquarters in western Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The international coalition aircraft carried out an airstrike on one of the Islamic State’s headquarters in the western side of the city of Mosul, while caused damage to the nearby shops and school, a source told Alsumaria News on Sunday.

The source said, “The international coalition aircraft bombarded, today, a headquarters of the Islamic State group, near a school in western Mosul.”

“The airstrike destroyed the headquarters completely, as well as inflicting significant damage to the nearby school and shops,” the source added on condition of anonymity.w
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