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UPDATED: dozens of kidnapped Iraqis freed as clashes renew in Mosul

 UPDATED: dozens of kidnapped Iraqis freed as clashes renew in Mosul

Iraqi Federal police celebrate in West Mosul, Iraq July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

Iraqi Federal police celebrate in West Mosul, Iraq July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi forces have freed dozens of kidnapped children and women during a clearing operation in the Old City of Mosul after liberating it from the Islamic State (IS), Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported on Thursday.

A security source told Sputnik that a Yazidi family of two women and two children was freed today from a house where they were they were detained during the past months.

“Two soldiers were wounded during clashes with elements of the IS at the west bank of the Tigris River, and were taken to hospitals for treatment,” the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Clashes are taking place in different areas on the river as elements of the IS used bombs,” he added.

Yazidi activist Ali Hussein al-Khansuri was quoted by Sputnik agency saying that security forces have found three girls and a boy inside a house in al-Midan district, western Mosul.

“Everyday, security forces free a number of kidnapped children, women and girls from the grip of the IS terror group, both from western Mosul, which was completely liberated on 10 July, and inside areas controlled by the IS in Syria,” al-Khansuri added.

Al-Khansuri noted that security forces managed, till now, to free 15 children and 15 women who were abducted from Sinjar district and villages in the west of Mosul in early August 2014.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, declared on Monday victory in the city of Mosul over IS, ending an eight-month campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces.The victory in Mosul ended an eight-month campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces. The victory in Mosul means that the Iraqi government will carry on with further offensives to retake other IS holdouts across Iraq, including those in Anbar near the Syrian borders.

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