60 ISIS troops die in Old Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Around sixty Islamic State militants were killed while combing Mosul’s Old City, Federal Police have announced.
In a statement, Lt.Gen.Shaker Jawdat, Federal Police chief, said troops resume combing the remaining regions in the Old City.
Fifty-seven militants and four snipers were killed, according to the statement. Eplosive belts, missiles and weapons were found.
On Saturday, Jawdat said four regions including al-Nujeifi, al-Sarai and parts of Lakash and Bab Jadid were still held by IS. Once liberated, Federal Police will announce accomplishing its goals there.
Earlier this week,Counter-Terrorism Service Commander Abdul-Ghani al-Assadi expected the final liberation of Mosul to be achieved within a few days. Only between 200 and 300 IS fighters are cornered at areas overseeing the western bank of the Tigris River.
100 ISIS suicide combers said to be in Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi special forces are fighting 100 Islamic State suicide bombers remaining in western Mosul’s Old City district as operations continue to clear the last few kilometers held by the extremist group, according to a senior commander.
Abdul-Wahab al-Saidi, a senior commander of the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, said in press statements Wednesday that only 150 meters remained in IS grip in the Old City, adding that 90 percent of the remaining militants were foreigners.
Major Ali Mohsen, a member of the CTS, was also quoted by BasNews saying that troops took over 90 percent of al-Midan area, which he said hosted the group’s incarceration units and ammunition reservoirs. He added that 40 persons detained by the group at one of its underground tunnels were set free, but were in poor health conditions.
Iraq’s state TV also quoted Abdul-Amir Yarallah, head of the Joint Operation Command’s Nineveh Operations, saying that troops recaptured Khatouniya and Tawaleb, two of the last remaining IS-held areas in the Old City.
Iraqi Federal Police forces also deployed snipers on Wednesday to secure their passageway to the last IS hideout on their axis of operations in the Old City.
The service’s chief, Shaker Jawdat, said in a statement that special forces deployed on the rooftop of a so-called “Shawwaf building” as forces advance towards al-Nujaifi area, the last spot held by IS at the police’s scope of operations in the medieval district.
The war against IS has displaced at least 900.000, according to Iraqi and United Nations authorities, and civilians continued to flee as operations reached the last hideouts in the Old City.
25 Iraqi militia die in fighting with ISIS
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Twenty-five tribal forces personnel were killed and injured in an attack launched by the Islamic State against a village in Qayyarah, south of Mosul, DPA reported.
According to sources, IS militants attacked al-Imam village, west of Qayyarah, located south of Mosul city, coming from Shirqat town, north of Salahuddin province. The Tribal Mobilization Forces confronted the fighters, which left two personnel killed and 25 others wounded.
The confrontations, according to the sources, are still ongoing.
Iraqi troops had liberated Qayyarh in August.
More than 700 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of June as result of violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) which excludes security members deaths. Baghdad ranked the second place with 22 deaths and 88 injuries.
According to a previous count by UNAMI, 824 Iraqis were killed and wounded during the month of May.
Observers argue that attacks outside the city prove that the extremist group can still pose a security threat for all cities.