ISIS executes 15 for failing to quarter its shooters
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have killed 15 civilians in western Mosul for refusing to allow the group’s snipers to position or erect rocket launchers above their residences as Iraqi government forces push deeper against the militant group.
Islamic State has regularly been reported to kill civilians for trying to escape areas under its control in western Mosul or collaborate with security forces since Iraqi forces launched an offensive in February to retake that region.
Al-Arabiya quoted Qusai al-Kanaani, a major from the Iraqi joint forces, saying he believes four Islamic State snipers were deployed at al-Refaie, Zanjili and al-Sihha districts in western Mosul.
Iraqi generals say IS’s reliance on snipers and booby-traps, as well as their entrenchment in the middle of civilians, has slowed down advancement by security troops in central Mosul districts, especially at the narrow streets of the Old City, a strategic area from where Islamic State first declared the establishment of its rule in Iraq in 2014.
Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, took over eastern Mosul in January after three months of battles.
The U.S. State Department said on Twitter on Friday Iraqi troops currently control 4000 kilometers of the city.
The U.S.-led coalition had estimated the number of remaining IS militants in Mosul by less than 1000. The group has lost dozens of its foreign and local leaders since the start of western Mosul operations. On Friday, the Federal Police service said it killed the group’s booby-trapping official for western Mosul, Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Rusi, a Russian national, and three other Asian aides.
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ISIS executes 42 in Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants killed 42 civilians in Mosul as they refused to join the group, a parliamentary source from Nineveh province said.
“The militants in Mosul are looking for women to get them involved in the so-called jihadul Nikah [sexual jihad],” the source said. “IS kills whoever refuses to join.”
“IS executed 42 men who refused to join the group in Mosul,” the source added.
Earlier on Saturday, IS was reported to have killed 15 civilians in western Mosul for refusing to allow the group’s snipers to position or erect rocket launchers above their residences.
IS executed hundreds of civilians and security members since it took over large areas in Iraq to proclaim a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” in 2014.
IS has been losing ground and personnel since Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S-led coalition and paramilitary troops, launched an offensive in October 2016 to recapture Mosul, the second-largest Iraqi city and the militants’ last urban stronghold in the country. The U.S.-led coalition had estimated the number of remaining IS militants in Mosul by less than 1000.
Eastern Mosul was retaken in January after three months of fighting. A new offensive was launched in February to retake the west.
Over four million persons were displaced inside the country since emergence of IS in 2014.
Iraqi troops currently control 4000 kilometers of the city, the U.S. State Department tweeted on Friday.
Infighting erupts among ISIS Big Wigs in Taqba
[ARA News] Internal clashes broke out on Saturday between militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the town of Tabqa in Syria’s northeastern Raqqa province, military sources reported.
This comes amidst continued advance by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS in Tabqa. The SDF has imposed a heavy siege on ISIS-held neighbourhoods inside the town.
A source in the Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed that internal fighting erupted among ISIS fighters in Tabqa, after some of them wanted to surrender due to the SDF siege on the town.
“As a result of the fighting and the siege on the ISIS terrorists inside the city of Tabqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces is witnessing that some of the Daesh [ISIS members] want to surrender themselves to the SDF,” said Jesper Söder, a Swedish volunteer with the SDF forces.
“But their commanders don’t allow them to do this, so they are fighting among themselves inside Tabqa,” the source said.
According to the SDF member, a number of ISIS militants have been killed by their own in Tabqa city on Saturday.
“Several Daesh [fighters] have been killed by their own inside of the city,” Söder reported.
The information could not be verified by other sources.