At least 19 civilian casualties as IS shell eastern Mosul marketplace

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) At least 19 civilians were killed and wounded on Sunday when Islamic State militants reportedly shelled areas recaptured by security forces in eastern Mosul, with mortar rounds.

Iraqi news websites said militants shelled the Nabi Yunus area in eastern Mosul with mortar missiles, killing at least four and wounding 15 others. The reports added that the attack destroyed five commercial stores in the area.

Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting to retake the city which fell to Islamic State militants in 2014. Many fighters fled to the western strongholds and some died en route. Since then, IS launched several attacks on the recaptured areas in the east, killing several civilians and security members. The attacks were carried out with drones, suicide bombings and mortar bombardments.

Iraqi forces are currently struggling to retake western Mosul in a campaign that started in February. Recent reports said hundreds of civilians died in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS alongside the Iraqi troops. The Iraqi command accuses US of causing civilian casualties by taking them as human shields and booby-trapping their property.

The conflict in western Mosul has so far displaced more than 200.000 civilians.