Coalition strikes kill IS drone experts, destroy factory in Mosul
Islamic State drones.
The Iraqi military intelligence service said in a statement the strikes targeted a drones factory belonging to the group in Islah al-Zerai district.
Islamic State militants have largely relied on bomb-supplied drones in targeting Iraqi security forces and civilians in both western and eastern Mosul. Some of those attacks targeted areas recaptured by Iraqi security in the eastern side, leaving some civilians and security members dead.
Iraqi government troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched a renewed offensive in February to retake the western region.
The Joint Operations Command said earlier this month that Islamic State militants were only in control over 6.8 percent of territory of Iraq, and said government troops were controlling 60 percent of the western side of Mosul. Troops are currently focusing on central Mosul’s Old City, which hosts the mosque where IS first declared the establishment of its rule in Iraq in 2014.
The conflict in Mosul has so far displaced more than 500.000 people, according to Iraqi government data.