Intense fighting as security troops resume advances at Mosul’s Old City
Iraqi rapid response forces gather during a battle against Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq May 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi government troops engaged in intense fighting with Islamic State members on Sunday as they continued incursions into IS’s last havens in western Mosul’s Old City.
Rudaw agency said army warplanes bombarded two IS locations in Zanjili district, south of the strategic Old City, the group’s last holdout in western Mosul.
Fierce encounters continue also at neighboring al-Sihha, where troops regained control by 70 percent, with militants encircled inside the Old City, according to the Kurdish-run network, which added that IS fighters attacked the troops with seven booby-trapped cars.
Iraqi commanders had predicted the battle against IS in Mosul to end before the holy month of Ramadan, which started Saturday.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi command said it moved towards the Old City from the northwest, having besieged the area for weeks from the south.
The Old City, with its narrowly structured alleyways, and with hundreds of thousands of civilians believed to be stranded inside, was the place where IS declared the establishment of its rule in Iraq in 2014.
The United Nations says it expects 200.000 civilians to flee the area as encounters heat up.