Mosul (IraqiNews.com) U.S-led coalition airstrikes have killed three senior Islamic State leaders in western Mosul, while two suicide bombers were killed before carrying out an attack.
A statement by the Defense Ministry said late Thursday that coalition strikes pounded IS locations in al-Islah district in western Mosul, killing three senior leaders of the militant group.
According to the statement, those killed included one nicknamed Abu Gamal al-Baljiki, a military area commander, ahmed Suhaib al-Takriti, the group’s “economy official” and Mohamed Elwan al-Takriti, who was in charge of IS camps in western Mosul.
A separate statement by the Interior Ministry also said security forces killed two suicide attackers from IS putting on explosive vests at Hammam al-Alil, an area in southern Mosul recaptured late 2016 by security forces, which also hosts refugee camps.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January, and have been struggling since mid February to retake the western side of the city that fell to IS in 2014.
Iraqi and coalition generals have reiterated that IS combat powers were waning and many senior leaders had been killed or fled the city since operations launched to liberate the western region.
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