Iraqi Forces in Control of One Third of Western Mosul

Commander: Iraqi Forces in Control of One Third of Western Mosul

A senior Iraqi officer said on Sunday that government forces are now in control over at least a third of Western Mosul since operations targeting ISIL militants in that region launched in February.

Maan al-Saadi, commander of the second division of the elite Counter-Terrorism Force, said Iraqi forces had become in control over more than a third of the region, with troops proceeding to liberate the rest of districts in that section, Iraqi News reported.

Earlier on Sunday, Iraqi troops continued advances in Western Mosul, storming two more neighborhoods near the Old City.

Iraqi Forces Storm 2 Western Mosul Neighborhoods near Old City

Iraqi government forces continued on Sunday advances against ISIL militants in Western Mosul, storming two more neighborhoods near the Old City.

The army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces stormed the districts of al-Oghwat and Mosul al-Jadidah, but gave no more details, Iraqi News reported.

Iraqi government forces took over Eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting with ISIL, and have entered a third week of operations to clear the Western region from militants. The troops have become closer to the Central Mosul’s Old City, having recaptured major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport.

New Mass Grave Containing 500 Dead Bodies Unearthed in Mosul

Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) discovered another mass grave Northwest of the city of Mosul as the Iraqi military forces and their allies continue their clean-up operation in captured areas.

Hashd al-Shaabi’s Second Brigade found dead bodies of 500 civilians in Badoush prison. The victims had been executed after the ISIL took control of Badoush prison.

The gruesome discovery was made three months after the Iraqi forces found a mass grave containing the remains of tens suspected victims of the ISIL executions in a village recently retaken from the terrorists near Mosul.

Iraqi Forces Repulse ISIL Attack in Shirqat District

Iraqi forces managed to repulse an attack launched by the ISIL militants in the Western side of Shirqat District, killing 15 of them, a local source said.

The source said that the Iraqi forces repulsed an armed attack conducted by the ISIL militants in the Western sides of the district of Shirqat, which was recently liberated by the forces, Al Sumariya reported.

He further added that as a result the government forces killed at least 15 ISIL militants, who tried to sneak into the area coming from the village of al-Safina, located in the Eastern parts of Mosul.

ISIL Terrorists Plant Huge Number of Landmines at Syria-Iraq Border

The ISIL has planted a large number of landmines in a region at Syria-Iraq border to reinvigorate security of the rest of its bases in Iraq’s territories, a local source in Western Iraq reported.

The source said that the ISIL has planted a large number of landmines in a desert between the Iraqi town of al-Qa’em West of al-Anbar province and the Syrian town of Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzur province.

The sources who requested anonymity added that ISIL has planted mines at the border region to prevent kidnaped civilians from escaping.

Iraqi Popular Movement Leader: Formation of Golan Regiment No Propaganda

Sheikh Akram al-Ka’abi, the leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite resistance movement fighting the ISIL, underlined that his forces are really prepared to cooperate with the Syrian army troops to liberate the Golan region occupied by Israel, stressing that formation of the Golan regiment was not meant to serve psychological warfare.

“The media outlets which support terrorists and the usurper Zionist regime tried to display it (al-Nujaba’s preparedness to help Syria take back Golan) as unreal and as mere words,” al-Ka’abi said in an interview with the Lebanese al-Mayadeen news channel on Sunday.

Noting that the Israeli news channels have been frightened by reports about the formation of a trained and well-equipped unit to liberate the Golan, he said, “Given the Nujaba forces’ high battlefield experience and military capabilities, formation of a corps to free Golan is not meant to serve as media maneuvering but a real objective of this resistance group.”