“The intelligence obtained by us indicates that there have been over 6,000 ISIL terrorists in Mosul and around 3,400 of them have been killed in battles with Iraq’s joint military forces in the major city of Nineveh province,” Iraqi Defense Ministry Spokesman Colonel Laith al-Naimi said.
He noted that over 250 bomb-laden vehicles and the entire bomb-making workshops of the terrorists have been destroyed in Mosul which means that the ISIL has been paralyzed by the Iraqi forces.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iraqi rapid response forces targeted ISIL positions on the Western bank of the Tigris River in Mosul, after officials announced the complete recapture of the Eastern side.
Mopping-up operations were still under way in Rashidiya, the last district liberated from the militants on the East bank of the Tigris to flush out remaining militants in a pocket in the Northeastern district, NRT reported.
Hundreds of people from Rashidiya left the district with their belongings to escape fighting.
The United Nations also said it is “racing against the clock” to prepare emergency aid for hundreds of thousands of endangered civilians in Mosul as the Iraqi army began offensive to oust ISIL from the Western half of the city.
UN officials estimate 750,000 people remain in Mosul west of the Tigris River that flows through the city.
The West side could prove more complicated to take than the East as it is crisscrossed by streets too narrow for armored vehicles, allowing militants to hide among civilians.
