PMUs kill 23 militants in western Mosul, police advance toward strategic targets
Iraqi Federal Police forces. File photo.
Al-Hashd’s media service said the force’s missile launchers bombed an IS gathering at the strategic town of Tal Afar, killing more than 23 militants, including an Austrian national. It said the meeting was addressing means to overcome combat-related disputes among fighters.
Meanwhile, Federal Police chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said in a statement that his forces became one kilometer away from the Bouseif Hills, a vital IS hideout. He said the forces advanced under an intense artillery cover that killed six militants and two booby-trapped tractors.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a brief announcement on Sunday that security forces launched an operation to retake the western side of Mosul, Islamic State militants’ largest stronghold in Iraq which the group took over in 2014. He said on January 24th that government forces, backed by popular militias and U.S.-led coalition troops, had cleared the whole of the eastern region from militants after more than three months of fighting.
Recapturing Mosul would represent the strongest blow to Islamic State’s proclaimed “Islamic Caliphate”.
Commanders at the Joint Forces Command and the Federal Police said Sunday they killed 79 militants, recaptured 17 villages and 120 square kilometers of western Mosul on the first day of operations.