Fourteen IS members, tribal fighter killed in clashes, attack in Mosul
Iraqi security forces take cover during clashes with Islamic State militants, north of Mosul, Iraq, December 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Speaking to Anadolu news agency, Col. Ahmed al-Jabouri, of the army’s Nineveh Operations Command, said, “Clashes broke out between IS and the Tribal Mobilization Forces in al-Adla village, located in Nimrud, southeast of Mosul, for more than two hours.”
Eight of the militants, according to Jabouri, and a member of the pro-government tribal forces were killed, while another member was wounded.
Meanwhile, Shafaq News quoted security sources as saying that army troops repulsed an IS attack in al-Tamarat region in west of Mosul, killing six of the attackers.
The same sources also said two other militants were killed by security personnel near Nimrud as they tried to escape via Tigris River toward Hammam al-Alil.
In related news, Cap. Sabhan Talib, of Federal Police, told Anadolu that security personnel recovered three bodies of civilians with signs of torture and shooting on them.
The bodies, according to Talib, were found at al-Ghozlani camp, an old abandoned military camp in south of Mosul. “The bodies were not identified. They were transferred to forensic medicine department.”
On Friday, Lt. Saad Hamed, an officer from Nineveh’s civil defense department, told Anadolu Agency that more than 2,000 bodies of civilians were recovered since liberation of Mosul city, expecting between 400-500 bodies to be still under the rubble.
The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell, the official authority tasked with declaring information about the war against IS, said on July 20 that 1,429 civilians and 30,000 militants were killed during the campaign.
On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over IS militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014.