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Defense Ministry: 35% of western Mosul still controlled by Islamic State

 Defense Ministry: 35% of western Mosul still controlled by Islamic State

A still image taken from a video posted to a social media website by the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News Agency on March 26, 2017, shows men, said to be Islamic State fighters, firing their weapons, said to be in Western Mosul, Iraq. Social Media Website via Reuters TV

A still image taken from footage posted to a social media website by the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News Agency on March 26, 2017, shows men, said to be Islamic State fighters, firing their weapons, said to be in Western Mosul, Iraq. Social Media Website via Reuters TV

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Defense Ministry has estimated the remaining part of western Mosul that is still held by Islamic State at thirty-five percent.

In remarks on Sunday, Iraqi Defense Minister Erfan al-Hiyali said life returned back to normal in the eastern side and that the Iraqi troops are in high spirit and making their best to secure the citizens and their properties.

the Iraqi army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, was quoted by state-run newspaper al-Sabah earlier on Sunday as saying that the military operations in western Mosul are expected to be completed in a maximum of three weeks.

Iraqi generals previously claimed they were in control of 70 percent of the western side of Mosul, and that the total of territory held by IS in Iraq is less than seven percent.

Iraqi troops, backed by the international coalition led by the U.S. and the paramilitary troops, took over the eastern side of Mosul in January after three months of fighting with the IS militants. In February, another major offensive was launched to retake the western side.

The number of Islamic State fighters remaining in Mosul are estimated by Iraqi troops at 200 to 300, mostly foreigners, down from nearly 6,000 when the offensive started.

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