Iraqi militia foils attack in western Mosul, 2 ISIS Bad Guys die
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary groups said Thursday they killed two Islamic State members in a foiled attack in western Mosul.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said through its media they killed two Islamic State attackers in western Mosul’s region of Tal Zalat, and destroyed their vehicle.
PMUs, an alliance of Shia militias which won recognition as a national armed force in November, have been actively taking part in operations against Islamic State extremists in western Mosul and other Iraqi provinces. They had made remarkable accomplishments over the past months, retaking Tal Afar airport and most recently taking part in the liberation of Badush region.
Al-Hashd has also claimed to have isolated Tal Afar, an outstanding IS bastion, from both Mosul and the group’s strongholds in Syria.
Iraqi commanders said recently they became in control over 60 percent of western Mosul since operations to recapture that area launched in February. The government said late January its forces fully retook the eastern side of the city. Forces are currently working to expel IS militants from central Mosul.
Military commanders had predicted to retake western Mosul within six months of operations.
Battles in the eastern side of the city have so far displaced more than 100.000 civilians.
Weather halts Iraqi forces in Mosul
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Ninveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces are halting ground advances against Islamic State in western Mosul again over inclement weather conditions, according to a senior Interior Ministry commander.
Maj. Gen. Thamer Ismail, commander of the Rapid Response forces,l was quoted as saying in a press statement Thursday that security operations for Thursday were going to rely merely on drone strikes, rockets and artillery bombardments without ground offensives due to “bad weather conditions and rains,”
Ismail said his forces were 600 meters away from the Grand Nuri Mosque in central Mosul, the spot from where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivered a sermon declaring the establishment of an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq in 2014.
He added that ground offensives would continue once the weather improves.
Iraqi commanders said recently they became in control over 60 percent of western Mosul since operations to recapture that area launched in February. The government said late January its forces fully retook the eastern side of the city.
On Wednesday, the troops regained control over the third of Mosul’s five bridges which connect both sides of the city, and said earlier they recaptured 90 percent of the Old City, a densely-structured district which Iraqi commanders view as essential for victory over IS.
Iraqi forces capture hospital in western Mosul
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Federal Police command said Thursday its forces had recaptured a public hospital in western Mosul from Islamic State militants, hours after other commanders reported a halt in advances.
Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said in statements that the Forces recaptured the Nineveh civil hospital in central Mosul, adding that Iraqi fighter jets also bombed several locations held by the extremist group in al-Hadbaa region.
Jawdat’s announcement came shortly after some security commanders said ground advances inside central Mosul’s strategic Old City district were halting due to bad weather.
Iraqi commanders said recently they became in control over 60 percent of western Mosul since operations to recapture that area launched in February. The government said late January its forces fully retook the eastern side of the city.
On Wednesday, the troops regained control over the third of Mosul’s five bridges which connect both sides of the city, and said earlier they recaptured 90 percent of the Old City, a densely-structured district which Iraqi commanders view as essential for victory over IS.
Maj. Gen. Thamer Ismail, commander of the Rapid Response forces, was quoted as saying in a press statement that security operations for Thursday were going to rely merely on drone strikes, rockets and artillery bombardments without ground offensives due to “bad weather conditions and rains”.
Iraqi forces stop ISIS attack on Badush
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army officer, Colonel Thamer Jaber, announced on Thursday, that security forces repulsed an attack launched by the Islamic State group, while killed 10 of the group’s militants near al-Kazak camp, northwest of Mosul.
Jabber said in a press statement, “Security forces that protect Badush city managed to repulse an attack launched by the Islamic State on the city, while also killed 10 militants, including suicide bombers, northwest of Mosul.”
“The Islamic State militants, including suicide bombers, also tried to sneak into the city of Badush, to retake it from security forces,” Jabber added.
Jabber also pointed out that some of the militants fled toward Tal Afar District, and explained that army forces reinforced their presence in the city, to prevent any further attacks.
Meanwhile, Colonel Jabber revealed that clashes broke out between the Islamic State militants and security forces near al-Kazak camp, leaving 8 IS casualties, while security forces destroyed vehicles belonging to the terrorist group and shelled their gatherings in the area.
Iraqi forces continue fighting in Old Mosul
(Reuters) Iraqi government forces besieged Islamic State militants around Mosul’s Old City on Thursday, edging closer to the historic mosque from where the group’s leader declared a caliphate nearly three years ago.
The militants, holed up in houses and darting through alleyways, resisted with sniper fire, suicide attacks and car bombs.
Though heavy rain hampered the advance, Federal Police and rapid response unit troops reached points about 500 m (yards) from the centuries-old al-Nuri Mosque by Thursday morning.
The black jihadist flag was clearly visible draped from its famous leaning minaret.
The government forces have made significant gains in recent days in a battle that started in October, seizing a main bridge over the Tigris river and closing in on the mosque.
“We are holding positions we took yesterday. There is a lot of resistance in that area with snipers and car bombs,” Federal Police Major General Haider Dhirgham told Reuters.
The capture of al-Nuri Mosque would be a huge symbolic victory as well as a concrete gain.
“It’s important for them, it’s where they declared their state,” Dhirgham said, speaking at a police forward base as refugees trudged through the muddy streets and wrecked houses.
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi chose the mosque as his backdrop for announcing the caliphate spanning Iraq and Syria in July 2014.
Since then, Mosul has been the hardline group’s main urban stronghold in Iraq but it has steadily lost ground since the offensive began. Iraqi leaders say the battle is reaching its final stages.
Several more areas of western Mosul had been recaptured, including the hospital, during Wednesday and Thursday morning but officers said progress was slowed by car bombs and booby-traps in houses and alleyways, as well as the bad weather.
Islamic State hit back with sporadic attacks on government positions, including mortar fire. Suicide bombers had driven explosive-rigged cars at troops, Dhirgham said.
Government forces responded with mortars and helicopter gunships strafed militant positions from above.
Police said they had killed nine militants who tried to counter-attack one of their positions with rocket-propelled grenades.
“Federal Police drones bomb dozens of fixed and mobile Daesh targets in the perimeters of the Grand Mosque,” a later police statement said, using an Arab acronym for Islamic State.
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