Iraqi forces continue advancing in northwest Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi army troops raided on Sunday the northwestern axis in western Mosul, a military source has said.
“The 9th armored division, covered by the Iraqi and international coalition fighter jets, stormed the 30 Tamuz (July 30th) district,” Cap. Jabbar Hassan, from the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, said
“Fierce clashes are ongoing against the Islamic State militants,” he added. “The operation started from two axis heading from Mesherfa region, one day after driving the militants out of it.”
The militants, according to Hassan, “now basically depend on snipers.”
Meanwhile, a leader with the paramilitary troops of al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Tal Afar town declared arresting a Moroccan IS member while attempting infiltration toward the Syrian borders
The Iraqi troops opened last week a new front in the northwest of Mosul seeking crackdown on the militants in the Old City after weeks of attempts to invade the area from the south.
The 9th armored division, Federal Police and Rapid Response troops retook more than 30 percent of al-Haramat al-Thaniya district, the Kurdish-owned Rudaw network reported earlier on Sunday indicating fierce clashes ongoing there.
The troops tightened the grip on more than 50 percent of al-Zanjili district, the report said adding that the airstrikes targeted two IS booby-trapping workshops.
The report quoted military sources as saying that three armed militants were killed during the clashes.
On Saturday, the Nineveh Operations Command declared full liberation of Mesherfa region. Previously, the troops announced gaining full control on Hawi al-Kanisah region and taken over 50 percent of 17 Tamuz (July 17th) region in western Mosul.
Libyan ISIS Big Turban dies in western Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A Libyan senior leader of the Islamic State was killed in western Mosul on Sunday as Iraqi security forces sweep through districts on a new axis of operations taken last week.
Federal Police chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said Khaled ibn al-Waleed, a prominent IS leader, and five of his sentry, were killed when security troops pounded the group’s main police headquarter in the city.
He also said 40 IS members were killed in police bombardment on al-Zanjili district, and became close to the fifth of bridges linking western and eastern Mosul.
Jawdat added that other IS casualties fell down when a drone guided by militants mistakenly bombarded their gathering near the Grand Nuri Mosque in the Old City, an area besieged by the forces for weeks.
The developments come as Iraqi commanders say they recaptured Mesherfa and most of Haramat and 30 Tamuz (July 30th) districts which fall on the northwestern axis of operations, a new front which Iraqi forces resorted to having found it difficult to invade the Old City from the south.
Iraqi troops took over eastern Mosul from the Islamic State in January, and have been advancing through the west since mid February, recently claiming control over 70 percent of that region.
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Iraqi forces advance toward al-Haramat al-Thaniya district
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Federal Police have declared killing dozens of Islamic State militants and destroying their anti-aircraft weapons as the troops advanced toward al-Haramat al-Thaniya district, in central Mosul, on Sunday.
Clashes erupted between the Rapid Response forces and the militants while combing al-Haramat, according to Lt.Gen. Shaker Jawdat, chief of the Federal Police.
The troops, according to Jawdat, “killed dozens of IS members, blew up several booby-trapped vehicles, destroyed three anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition stash and defused 50 bombs.”
Jawdat added that the troops advanced toward al-Haramat al-Thaniya reached near al-Jisr al-Khamis regions in central Mosul.
Speaking to Youm 7 news website, Jawdat said the troops are besieging the Grand al-Nuri al-Kabeer mosque, located in the Old City. The militants are taking shelter through thousands of the civilians in the densely-populated city.
The troops are 300 meters away from the mosque, which is besieged from three axis. Jawdat said, adding that the troops are now in control of the high buildings.
Meanwhile, Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces, revealed ‘strategic’ changes to liberate the rest of the western side of Mosul.
“Strategic changes to the military plan will eliminate the presence of IS in Mosul,” according to Assadi, who did not rule out possibility of changing the locations of the military units at the final phase of fighting in the city.
ISIS resistance stiffens in Musherfa district
Mosul (Reuters) Iraqi forces faced stiff resistance from Islamic State in northwest Mosul on Sunday after opening a new front against the militants there in a push to rout them from the city after seven months of fighting.
Trapped in a steadily shrinking area of the city, the militants are fighting back with a barrage of suicide car bombs and snipers concealed amongst hundreds of thousands of civilians they are effectively holding hostage.
Having gained a foothold in the northern Musherfa district last week, Iraqi forces are trying to push down into the handful of remaining districts held by Islamic State in Mosul, including the Old City.
The Iraqi military said on Saturday the Musherfa district had been fully retaken, but officers told Reuters on Sunday there was still fighting there and smoke could be seen rising over the area by a Reuters reporter in east Mosul.
“Fighting Daesh in Musherfa with a large number of families still locked in their houses is making the battle more complicated,” said a colonel from the ninth armored division, which is taking part in the offensive, referring to Islamic State by its Arab acronym.
The new push from the northwest began last week after other fronts in the city’s southern districts stalled around the Old City where the iconic mosque from which Islamic State leader proclaimed a modern-day caliphate is located.
Iraqi forces are backed by a U.S.-led coalition which is carrying out airstrikes and advising them on the ground.
Iraqi officers said additional reinforcements from the Rapid Response Division had arrived in northwest Mosul on Sunday to help clear areas on the banks of the River Tigris that bisects the city.
“The brigade will participate in the battle to retake Hawi al-Kanisa and also help the ninth army division step up pressure on Daesh fighters,” said a Rapid Response officer on condition of anonymity.
Civilians being hammered by both sides in Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A missile attack launched by Islamic State members has killed and injured civilians in western Mosul, a source was quoted as saying.
Four civilians were killed, while nine others were injured due to a missile attack launched by the militants against stores that sell food commodities located near Fathi al-Ali mosque in Mosul al-Jadida region, the source, who preferred anonymity, told Sputnik on Sunday.
Meanwhile, local residents said civilians were killed and injured on Sunday as airstrikes launched by the U.S-led coalition targeted IS havens in western Mosul.
One civilian was killed, three others were injured due to the airstrikes launched by the international coalition against al-Iqtisadiyeen district, northwest of Mosul, the residents told Shafaq News website.
In March, the Pentagon said it was going to investigate reports that coalition jets killed more than 200 people in western Mosul’s al-Jadida district.
On Saturday, the Nineveh Operations Command declared full liberation of Mesherfa region. Previously, the troops announced gaining full control on Hawi al-Kanisah region and taken over 50 percent of 17 Tamuz (July 17th) region in western Mosul.
The Iraqi troops opened last week a new front in the northwest of Mosul seeking crackdown on the militants in the Old City after weeks of attempts to invade the area from the south.
ISIS pounds Iraqi troops with rocket artillery
Flaunting new arms it first announced in late April, ISIS has posted images showing its use of a rocket-mounted vehicle in a suicide bombing in northwestern Mosul.
The images showed the attacker inside the vehicle before he carried out the attack targeting Iraqi forces, the vehicle advancing on its target and the detonation he purportedly orchestrated.
But they did not illustrate the novel feature ISIS had advertised as key to the new weaponry – the firing of rockets mounted on the vehicle.
The group had said this would maximize destruction caused by the attacker as he advanced towards his target.
At least two people were killed and six injured when multiple ISIS suicide bombers attacked a base in northern Iraq where US military advisers are stationed, security sources said on Sunday.
In addition, two of the militants died when they detonated their vests at the entrance to the K1 base overnight, and three more were killed by Kurdish peshmerga forces who control the Kirkuk area where it is situated.
“They were wearing uniforms like the Kurdish peshmerga and had shaved their beards to look like us,” one officer told Reuters.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying it had killed and wounded dozens of “crusaders and apostates,” referring to the peshmerga and Western military advisers.
Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition are fighting to dislodge ISIS from Mosul, 140 km northwest of Kirkuk, but large pockets of territory remain under militant control, including Hawija, which is near the targeted base.