Iraqi army shoots down IS drones, kills 26 militants in Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army generals and media services said Wednesday forces killed 26 Islamic State militants in separate locations in Mosul, while bringing down drones guided by the extremist group.

Col. Adel al-Jubouri, from the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, told Bas News that security forces shot down three Islamic State-guided drones that were heading to bomb civilians in the districts of al-Zohour, al-Masaref, al-Seddiq and al-Sukkar north of Mosul. Government forces had recaptured those districts from IS as part of operations between mid October and January 24th that drove extremists out of eastern Mosul.

In a separate encounter, Jubouri said, troops killed five Islamic State militants who attempted to sneak into Rashidya neighborhood, north of Mosul.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said 21 other militants were killed in an army airstrike in Umm al-Zanabir, south of western Mosul’s strategic city of Tal Afar. Three 4WD vehicles belonging to the group were also destroyed in the strike, according to the media service.

Iraqi forces are awaiting top commanders orders to invade Islamic State strongholds in western Mosul.

The United Nations, American and Iraqi military officials have recently reiterated that Islamic State’s days in Iraq were numbered, given the group’s continuous finance and personnel losses over the past months.