Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Baghdad

UPDATED: Iraqi forces retake 2 northern Mosul regions, very close to recapturing east

 UPDATED: Iraqi forces retake 2 northern Mosul regions, very close to recapturing east

Iraqi army forces. File photo.

Iraqi army forces. File photo.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces recaptured on Saturday two of a handful of remaining districts in Islamic State grip in northeastern Mosul, becoming so close to announcing a total liberation of the eastern section of the city from the group.

Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Joint Operations Command in Nineveh, said the troops recaptured al-Arabi district and al-Qawsiyat village, and became closer to al-Rashidiya, another neighborhood.

Meanwhile, a local source in Nineveh told Alsumaria News that the bodies of seven Islamic State militants were found floating above the Tigris River. He said the dead fighters were swimming across the river over the past few days to escape battles with government forces in the east to the western bank, where the extremist group still predominates. He said the group was still searching for other missing corpses.

Earlier on Thursday, a spokesperson of the US-led coalition against IS, John Dorrian, said aerial bombardment destroyed 90 boats used by the militants to cross from the east to the west of the city.

Iraqi forces, backed by popular militias and US-led international advisers and troops, have entered a third month of operations to retake Mosul, the last outstanding IS stronghold in Iraq which fell to the group in 2014.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the basic military plan for Mosul’s liberation had been completed “in most combat axes” with the recapture of central Mosul, adding that operations continue to liberate “a few other regions” in the north of the city.

Commanders from the Iraqi army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces said in a press conference on the same day they had retaken all districts assigned to them in eastern Mosul, killing 3300 militants since operations launched.

After getting finished with eastern Mosul, Iraqi generals plan to advance to the western region of the city beyond the Tigris River, where Islamic State still predominates a majority of territory.

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