PMUs free five villages in Qairawan, western Mosul
Soldiers of al-Hashd al-Shaabi.
The Popular Mobilization Units, which started on Friday an offensive to liberate al-Qairawan region, west of Mosul, announced through its media their advance liberating Tal Ezzo village, in the southeast of the region, Tal Ha’et village in the northeast, Mohamed Zeid in the south, Hozeil village in the east and Tal Banat village in the north.
Located in Sinjar, which has a high Kurdish Yezidi majority, Qairawan is a main Islamic State bastion that links between Tal Afar town in the east and Baaj and Syrian borders in the west.
Moreover, the troops also declared combing through villages of Tal Ghaza and Um al-Zanabeer in addition to evacuating 1500 civilians in the north of Qayrawan.
On Friday, the troops liberated four other villages, killed dozens of IS militants and destroyed several vehicles of the group.
In April, PMUs launched an offensive liberating the ancient city of Hatra, in western Mosul.
The eastern side of Mosul was recaptured in January following three months of battles. Another offensive was launched in February to recapture the western flank of the city.
Iraqi commanders predict recapturing the remaining parts of the city this month.