Friday, March 29, 2024

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Iraqi police say killed 512 militants since start of west Mosul offensive

 Iraqi police say killed 512 militants since start of west Mosul offensive

Iraqi police forces in Mosul (Reuters)

Iraqi police forces in Mosul (Reuters)
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Federal Police forces command has said troops killed 512 Islamic State militants in western Mosul since operations launched in February to retake that region.

Police chief Shaker Jawdat was quoted Saturday saying drones from the Federal Police forces killed 512 militants, including snipers since operations launched on February 19th. He said 418 booby-trapped vehicles used by the militant group were destroyed.

Police took over 61 regions, making 2742 sq kilometers of western Mosul, according to Jawdat. The forces set 260.000 civilians free from IS captivity and repatriated 12.000 others.

Iraqi joint forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and generals say they are close to regaining control over the western side of the city which fell to the extremist group in 2014.

Iraqi and coalition commanders have reiterated that, despite the difficulty of battles at western Mosul’s densely-structured and highly-populated regions, IS fighters were shrinking in numbers and have lost many of their senior leaders.

Maj. Gen Najm al-Jubouri, commander of Mosul operations, said last week that government forces were control over 90 percent of land in western Mosul.

The conflict in Mosul has displaced more than 400.000 since the launch of operations in October.

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