Police destroy 2 IS trapped vehicles south of Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police forces destroyed a booby-trapped car and bulldozer belonging to Islamic State extremists south of Mosul, the police service said as preparations continue to invade the group’s western strongholds.

Federal Police chief Shaker Jawdat said Sunday forces hit the two tractors with kornet rockets after police drones had detected them in Lazaka, south of the city.

Iraqi government forces, backed by troops and advisers from a U.S.-led coalition and popular militias, are currently preparing for a ground invasion of western Mosul to clear that region from Islamic State militants who took over the city in 2014. Security operations since mid October have managed to recapture the eastern section of the city after killing more than 3000 militants.

The recapture of Mosul would represent the harshest blow to Islamic State’s influence in Iraqi as the city was previously designated as the capital of the group’s declared “Islamic Caliphate”.

Officials from Iraq’s military and the international coalition have predicted that western Mosul could be liberated within six months. But the United Nations has voiced fears for the fate of 750.000 civilians trapped under the group in that region, and had estimated potential refugees resulting from military efforts in the city by one million people.