Senior Commander: Regions Close to Mosul City Seized Back, ISIL Lays Mines in Vast Areas

“The regions close to Mosul have been besieged by the Iraqi forces to pave the way for winning back the city,” Commander of Golden Brigade affiliated to Iraqi Counterterrorism Department Major General Ma’an al-Sa’adi told FNA on Saturday.

He also noted that the Iraqi army units are preparing for defusing the mines planted by the ISIL in the surrounding areas of Mosul city.

“The ISIL has massively laid mines in different districts of the Mosul to prevent the Iraqi forces’ advances towards the city center,” al-Sa’adi added.

In relevant remarks earlier on Saturday, another senior Iraqi commander said over 200 ISIL terrorists have been killed in clashes with Iraq’s joint military forces in the Eastern flank of Mosul, and underlined that the ISIL has lost control over the region.

“Around 250 ISIL terrorists have been killed by Iraq’s counterterrorism forces in the Eastern side of Mosul,” Major General Abdul Wahhab al-Saedi told FNA.

The Iraqi commander reiterated that the ISIL has lost control of its affairs in Mosul.

“Iraq’s joint military forces have seized back a large number of villages in Eastern Mosul and they are advancing further there,” he added.

Also on Saturday, Commander of Iraq’s Counterterrorism Department Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi announced that the country’s joint military forces have seized back several strategic regions in the Western flank of Mosul.

“We have liberated important regions on the Western side of Mosul and will fully take control of the region in the coming days,” the Arabic-language media quoted al-Assadi as saying.

He reiterated that whatever has remained to be seized back is in the fire-range of Iraq’s joint military forces and winning them back is very easy.

“The war in al-Qaddessiya region and before that the clashes in al-Zahra region proved to us that the ISIL has lost its capability to confront us,” al-Assadi added.

The commander thanked the Iraqi people for cooperating with the military forces and providing them with precise intelligence about ISIL’s movements and their whereabouts.

The official media page of the Iraqi army declared on Friday that the army had entered the strategic district of Qadsiyah after fierce battle with the ISIL terrorists.

“Iraqi forces entered the district from its Eastern corridor after launching a surprise assault this morning,” Massdar quoted army’s media page as saying.

“The Iraqi army currently controls at least ten districts in Mosul’s Eastern sector,” the army added.