Airstrikes across western Mosul leave nearly 40 IS fighters dead
Aftermath of an airstrike by U.S.-led coalition jets in Mosul.
In a statement quoted by Alghad Press, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said one of the strikes killed five militants in Zanjili district.
Another strike killed 13 and destroyed two of their vehicles near al-Baaj region. Eleven others were also killed by an airstrike in Fawaz Hezam village, while ten were killed in Tal Afar when strikes targeted a trench and a communication center.
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.
Coalition commanders have estimated the number of remaining IS members in Mosul by less than 1000.
The most important security operations are currently concentrated around the Old City area, where IS fighters are entrenched it a mosque where the group first declared the establishment of its rule in 2014.