Iraqi Forces Recapture Last ISIL Pockets in Western Mosul

Iraqi government forces have recaptured more of the last few remaining areas in western Mosul’s Old City as the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group is on its last breath in the Arab country.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah stated on Saturday that Iraqi Federal Police forces had wrested complete control over Bab al-Hadid neighborhood and Wednesday market, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

The senior Iraqi military commander noted that security personnel had recaptured the Iron Bridge in western Mosul as well.

Yarallah went on to say that Federal Police forces and members of the Interior Ministry’s elite rapid response units had managed to liberate al-Shifa district, Ibn Sina teaching hospital as well as its blood bank and radiotherapy ward.

Meanwhile, a local source, requesting anonymity, told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency that ISIL terrorists have abducted hundreds of civilians in Iraq’s oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk to use them as human shields in the wake of government forces’ advances.

The source added that the Takfiris have rounded up some 900 people in Hawijah district over the past few days, and transported them to unknown locations.