Updated: More locations liberated in western Mosul
Federal police carry their weapons during a battle against Islamic State militants, at the entrance to the city of Dawasa in Mosul, Iraq, March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani – RTS11ISC
The army’s 9th Armoured Division took over Mesherfa al-Thalitha district, according to Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Nineveh Operations. Troops also gained control on the Mesherfa water purification project and liberated the northern part of Mesherfa al-Thaniya district.
Security troops earlier liberated two villages and a street in northwestern Mosul as they resumed advance in the city, local sources said.
Joint troops of armed forces and Federal Police controlled Mesherfa town, in the northwest of Mosul, and street 60, in the Mesherfa al-Thaniya district, the sources said.
Islamic State militants used four booby-trapped vehicles, driven by suicide bombers, to hamper the troops advance.
Moreover, the troops also took over Dijla village, northwestern Mosul and freed thirty families who were held by the militants in the village, according to news reports.
According to local residents, IS militants began evacuating their families from Mesherfa and 17 Tamuz (July 17th) regions amid heavy firing to prevent civilians from fleeing.
Earlier on the day, Iraqi forces recaptured Hassouna village and the “Nineveh gas lab” in western Mosul as Iraqi armed forces opened a new front against Islamic State in Mosul on Thursday, advancing on the militants’ enclave from the northwest.
Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January after three months of battles between the militants and the Iraqi troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition and the paramilitary troops. A new offensive was launched in February to retake the west.