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Iraqi army opens new front, advances on ISIS in Mosul from northwest

5 Maggio 2017 BreakingNews @en di

“At hour 06:00 forces of the army ‘s 9th Division and the 73rd Brigade of the 5th Division and forces of the federal police including the Rapid Response units attacked neighborhoods of Mshirfa, al-Kanisa and al-Haramat neighborhoods north of the right side of the city of Mosul”, the military statement read. “Your sons are now fighting to break defenses of the enemy and destroy its capabilities and they are ready to embrace either victory or martyrdom to liberate what has been remained of the Mosul city from the terrorist Daesh”, the statement continued using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. The attack would help the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and Interior Ministry Federal Police troops who were painstakingly advancing from the south, a military commander told Reuters. The militants are now besieged in the north-western corner of Mosul which includes the historic Old City centre and the Grand al-Nuri Mosque-from which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a “caliphate” in 2014. Heavy sustained gunfire has been a constant in the Old City area for days, where militants are hiding among residents and using the alleyways, traditional family homes and snaking narrow roads to their advantage. Tens of thousands of Mosul residents are trapped inside homes, caught in the fighting, shelling and air strikes as Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition advance in the west. The United Nations believes up to half a million people remain in the area, 400,000 of whom are in the Old City with little food, water and medicine

Iraqi troops gain control on strategic regions in western Mosul

17 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The Iraqi army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) controlled on Sunday one of the biggest markets in Mosul, while Federal Police reached the boundaries of two districts in the western flank of the city, a security source has said. “CTS continued its advance in al-Tanak district, western Mosul and controlled al-Maash market, the biggest vegetables market in Nineveh province”, the source told Shafaq News. Meanwhile, “Federal Police controlled the Bab Ghaz yard in Sinjar, in west of Mosul, reaching to the boundaries of Zanjili and al-Borsa districts”. Lieutenant Colonel Rami al-Anbari, of Federal Police, said “the troops gained control on strategic buildings in regions of Bab al-Sarai, Ghazi street, Mahalat al-Badan, Mahalat al-Sheikh Mohamed in the Old City. Snipers were deployed on tops of the buildings”. “More than 30 Iraqi snipers were deployed across the borders of the Old City, in west of Mosul”, Anbari told Anadolu Agency, adding that it’s the first time that Federal Police deploys snipers during battles against the Islamic State militants since operations were first launched.

Update: Iraqi troops liberated 28 districts in eastern Mosul

10 Dicembre 2016 BreakingNews @en/Middle East - Africa di

Iraqi troops have recaptured 28 districts in eastern Mosul with an air cover provided by Iraqi and international coalition fair forces. The Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) have said that the forces recaptured the districts of al-Adl and al-Taamim in the east. Security sources, on the same day,saying that the forces recaptured the districts of Nawafel, Simyak and Abbassiy in the north. Military have said recently that government forces became in control of nearly 50 percent of the eastern section of Mosul. ISIS remains in control of the western region near the group’s strongholds in Syria but Iraqi security commanders and Al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia leaders say they had managed to cut ISIS’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.