Iraqi forces capture parts of Mosul's Old Town
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Federal Police command said Friday its forces recaptured some areas near central Mosul’s Old City, hours after operations were reported to have slowed down due to bad weather.
The Federal Police said forces took over Pasha Mosque, Bab al-Sarai market and al-Adalah street, all inside the Old City and near Grand Nuri Mosque, where IS supreme leader Abu Bakr al-baghdadi declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq in 2014.
Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said in a statement that forces continued to advance against the strategic district from several directions. “Federal Police and Rapid Response forces, stationed near the Old Bridge along the (Tigris) river and on the outskirts of Bab al-Bid, resumed their military operations today,” said Jawdat.
He said the advances were backed by drones, rocket launchers and aerial bombardment on the extremist group’s locations in Ras al-Khour, Bab al-Bid and al-Hadbaa regions in the Old City.
Iraqi generals view the recapture of the densely-populated and -structured Old City as essential for victory over IS in western Mosul, where operations launched in February to achieve an eventual collapse of the group’s self-styled “Islamic Caliphate”.
Government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting.
Progress has slowed down over the past two days in central Mosul due to bad weather and the area’s narrow alleyways which made it difficult for military vehicles to go through.
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Iraqis announce gains in Mosul
A commander said Friday that Iraqi forces have gained ground from ISIL terrorists inside the Old City of Mosul, an area that could see some of the toughest fighting of the battle for the northern metropolis.
Iraqi forces launched an operation on February 19 to retake the west side of Mosul — the most populous area still held by the ISIL group — and have retaken several neighborhoods.
But the pace of their advance has periodically slowed because of bad weather that has hampered air support.
The Old City, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to have stayed on under ISIL rule, is a warren of narrow streets that restricts the use of large armored vehicles.
“Federal police and Rapid Response units imposed their complete control over the Al-Basha Mosque… and the Bab al-Saray market in the Old City,” federal police Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat, the commander of the federal police, said in a statement.
Iraqi forces launched the operation to recapture Mosul — the ISIL’s last major urban bastion in the country — in October, retaking its east side before setting their sites on the smaller but more densely populated west.
Source: AFP