Airstrikes across western Mosul leave nearly 40 IS fighters dead
[Iraq News] Airstrikes by Iraqi army forces left 40 Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
members dead in western djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
on Wednesday, Iraqi military media said as operations press on to drive the group out of the region.
In a statement quoted by Alghad Press, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said one of the strikes killed five snuffies in Zanjili district.
Another strike killed 13 and destroyed two of their vehicles near al-Baaj region. Eleven others were also killed by an
Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led international military coalition and paramilitary units, recaptured eastern Mosul in January, and launched another campaign in February to retake the western region. Iraqi commanders recently claimed the recapture of 70 percent of the western region, saying IS was only controlling less than seven percent of Iraqi territory.
Airstrike kills 4 IS members, IED blast leaves 2 casualties in al-Mutaibaija
[Iraq News] Commander of Tigris Operations, Lieutenant General Mazhar al-Ezzawi, on Wednesday, announced that an air strike killed four members of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group in al-Mutaibaija, while pointed out to discovering a boat and dismantling five IEDs.
Ezzawi said that joint security forces, backed by al-Hashd al-Shaabi, significantly advanced in the liberation battle of al-Mutaibaija and the surrounding areas.
Furthermore, four members of the Islamic State were killed by an air strike that targeted a vehicle carrying weapons and equipment, while security forces discovered a boat belonging to the terrorist group and dismantled five improvised bombs in the area, Ezzawi added.
Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, the little lost dog had finished eating the rat terrier...
a local source informed that a soldier was killed and another one was injured by the kaboom of an improvised bomb that targeted their patrol, in the outskirts of al-Mutaibaija.
Security forces cordoned off the area of kaboom, while transferred the maimed to a nearby hospital and the body to the forensic medicine department, the source told Alsumaria News.
Iraqi forces kills ISIS Mad Bomber
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police forces killed an Islamic State suicide bomber on Wednesday before carrying out an attack in southern Mosul, according to an officer.
Shafaaq news website quoted the officer saying the militant, wearing an explosive belt, tried to sneak into Hammam al-Alil region, coming from Qabr al-Abd village.
He revealed that police members went on a search for four other suicide bombers who made it into the area late Tuesday.
Iraqi government forces launched an offensive to retake western Mosul in February, having recaptured the eastern side of the city earlier in January after three months of battles.
Iraqi commanders said earlier this month that Islamic State members were only in control over less than seven percent of territory in Iraq. A U.S.-led coalition backing the Iraqi campaign said there were less than 1000 fighters in the city as the extremist group kept losing several leaders.
Though facing nearly 100.000 government and coalition troops, IS militants proved to be a hard catch due to their deployment in the middle of civilians, a tactic which Iraqi and coalition generals say caused a slowdown in ground progress due to their anxiousness to preserve the safety of citizens who are believed to be used as human shields.
Google Map at the link
Iraqi forces capture 3 more villages
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary forces said Wednesday they recaptured three more villages in the western flank
of Mosul as part of an operation that launched Tuesday to retake a strategic area from Islamic State militants.
The media service dof Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said troops recaptured the villages of Im Kreiz, Ghanem al-Awwad and Harraj in al-Hadar, a region which Iraqi government forces and PMUs launched synchronized offensives Tuesday that resulted in retaking nearly 12 villages.
Al-Hashd media said earlier on Wednesday mobilization forces reached al-Hadar’s archaeological area.
Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led international military coalition, recaptured eastern Mosul in January, and launched another campaign in February to retake the western region. Iraqi commanders recently claimed the recapture of 70 percent of the western region, saying IS was only controlling less than seven percent of Iraqi territory.
Coalition commanders estimate the number of remaining IS members in Mosul by less than 1000.
The most important battles Government troops are currently concentrated around western Mosul’s ancient Old City, the area which homes the Grand Nuri Mosque where the Islamic State’s supreme leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the inception of an “Islamic Caliphate” on large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Google Map at the link
Iraq Forces in Push to Retake UNESCO-Listed Hatra
[An Nahar] Iraqi forces on Tuesday launched a fresh push southwest of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
to retake the Hatra area, which includes a U.N.-listed World Heritage site, a statement said.
The operation marks the latest phase of an offensive launched by the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces in parallel to the main assault on Mosul begun six months ago.
The Hashed forces, dominated by Iran-backed militias, have focused their efforts on a front southwest of Mosul which aims at retaking the town of Tal Afar as well as desert areas stretching to the border with Syria.
"Hashed al-Shaabi forces launched Operation Mohammed Rasool Allah aimed at liberating Hatra and neighboring areas," the organization said in a statement.
It said that five villages had already been retaken from the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group on Tuesday and that Hashed engineering units were clearing the road to Hatra of bombs.
Hatra, known as al-Hadhr in Arabic, was established in the 3rd or 2nd century BC and became a religious and trading center under the Parthian empire.
Its imposing fortifications helped it withstand sieges by the forces of two Roman emperors: Trajan in 166 AD and Septimus Severus in 198.
Hatra finally succumbed to Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty, a few decades later, but the city remained well-preserved over the centuries that followed.
Hatra left its mark on pop culture as the location for the opening of horror film "The Exorcist", which was shot there in 1973.
The jihadists damaged parts of Hatra after taking over a third of Iraq in 2014, as part of a heritage destruction campaign that also saw them vandalize Mosul museum, blow up shrines and damage the ruins of the ancient city of Nimrud.
The jihadists see such destruction as a religiously mandated elimination of idols -- but they also have no qualms about selling smaller artifacts to fund their operations.
The full extent of the harm to Hatra remains unclear, but the site risks further damage during the military operation to retake it.
Iranian militias claim to have seized Hatra
HATRA: Iraqi forces seized the UNESCO-listed ancient site of Hatra from Daesh Wednesday, the latest archaeological jewel to be wrested from the terrorists’ grip.
Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces fighting Daesh around Iraq’s second city Mosul said they had “liberated the ancient city of Hatra... after fierce clashes with the enemy.”
The Hashed forces launched their offensive at dawn on Tuesday and swiftly retook villages in nearby desert areas and the Hatra archaeological site.
Nearby modern Hatra was not yet fully retaken but the Hashed said its forces had “broken into the town after Daesh defenses collapsed.”
It said in a statement that it killed 61 Daesh fighters in the two-day-old operation, including 19 suicide bombers, and evacuated around 2,500 civilians who fled their homes.
An AFP reporter with the forces said the advance was quick and supported by army helicopters. The Hashed Al-Shaabi said they retook an area covering 800 sq. km.
Lying 120 km southwest of Mosul, the militants’ last urban Iraqi stronghold, Hatra is one of a string of archaeological sites recaptured from Daesh in recent months.