Police commandos besiege IS in old Mosul’s Zanjili, kill 12 militantsMosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police forces are besieging Zanjili district near western Mosul’s Old City, Islamic State’s last refuge there, and killed 12 militants, the force’s commander said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said in a statement that “special forces of Federal Police commandos” are encircling Daesh (Islamic State) in Zanjili after taking over their communication equipment. He said bombardment of the area under siege left 12 militants added, including several with Arab nationalities.
“Forces are continuing their incursions along 600 meters, and are approaching Bab Sinjar, the Old City’s northern entrance,” Jawdat stated.
Mass grave of relics of 60 civilians found in western Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A mass grave composed of relics of 60 civilians, including women, killed by Islamic State, was found in western Mosul,” a local source from Nineveh province has said.
“Security troops discovered a mass grave in al-Shifa district in western Mosul,” the source told AlSumaria News on Wednesday. “The grave contained relics of 60 civilians, including elderly people and 23 women who worked as employees and lawyers as their ID cards found in their possession showed.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, “IS shot the civilians dead in the head. They were transferred to forensic medicine department in Wadi Hajar to identify them and hand over their bodies to their relatives.
Coalition: Islamic State controlling less than 10 sq kilometers in Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants are controlling less than ten square kilometers of land in western Mosul, a spokesperson of the U.S.-led coalition backing the campaign against the group said Thursday.
“Remaining #ISIS in W. #Mosul #Iraq hold less than 10 sq. km. This will arguably be some of the toughest fighting the #ISF will face,” Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), said on twitter, referring to Iraqi Security Forces sweeping through the last three districts around the Old City area which are still in IS grip.
Updated: sources: 5 civilians, including child, sniped by IS while fleeing Mosul enclave
(IraqiNews.com/Reuters) Five Iraqi civilians died Thursday by gunshots from Islamic State snipers while fleeing a district held by the group, security sources told Shafaaq News website.
The civilians were escaping Zanjili, where, the source said, Iraqi government forces regained control over 40 percent of areas on their way to invade the Old City. The source added that troops evacuated more than 150 families from the area.
About a dozen civilians were wounded on Thursday by Islamic State mortar shells as they tried to escape from the Zanjili district held by the militants in Mosul, Iraqi police said, according to Reuters.
Zanjili is part of the enclave that remains in the hands of Islamic State in the northern Iraqi city, alongside the Old City center and the Medical City hospitals complex.
U.S.-backed government forces began operations on May 27 to capture the enclave, regularly dropping leaflets telling families to flee.
The casualties from Zanjili were taken to a field clinic, said a police officer. They were part of the first group of civilians who have managed to escape.
Several dozen other civilians managed to reach government-held lines unhurt, using the same exit route, a police officer told Reuters.
The militants ordered dozens of families living in Zanjili district to move into the Old City to prevent them escaping toward the Iraqi forces, a resident told Reuters on Wednesday.