Iraq

Nineveh: 70 ISIL Terrorists Killed in Iraqi Army’s Artillery Attacks Near Tal Afar

 

The artillery units of the Iraqi army and volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) attacked ISIL’s command center in a region near Tal Afar in Nineveh province, inflicting heavy losses on the terrorists.

“Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraqi army’s Brigade 92 pounded with artillery shells a meeting of ISIL commanders near the police center of Tal Afar city, killing 70 terrorists and injuring many more,” the Iraqi sources said.

It is now a long time that the Iraqi forces have been trying to win back Tal Afar city and cut ISIL’s supply routes to Syria.

Meantime, Commander of Iraq’s Counterterrorism Organization Abdul Ghani Al-Assadi announced that his forces have helped 1,500 refugees out of Western Mosul.

Iraqi troops have already captured the Southern and Western access points to the Western Mosul, dislodging the militants from the airport, a military base, a power station and one residential district, al-Maamoun, according to military statements.

The airport and military base are now being used as a strategic launchpad by Iraqi forces for the operation on the densely packed West of the city.

Iraqi forces are currently about three kilometers (2 miles) from the old city center and the main government buildings, the capture of which would effectively mean the fall of Mosul.

The militants have developed a network of passageways and tunnels to enable them to hide and fight among civilians, melt away after hit-and-run operations and track government troop movements, according to inhabitants.

ISIL militants had forcibly taken several dozen of civilians into Mosul in the early stage of the offensive from nearby regions to serve as human shields.

The new push in Mosul comes after government forces finished clearing ISIL from the East of the city last month, confining the insurgents to the Western sector across the Tigris river.

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