PMU liberate two areas of Nineveh Plains from ISIS
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU)
Hezbollah's Iraqi branch...
have managed on Wednesday to liberate two areas in Nineveh Plain, IraqiNews reported.
The media office of the PMU said in a press statement that "Forces from al-Hashd al-Shaabi’s 8th brigade liberated, today, the areas of Upper Glokhan and al-Baraem neighborhood in Nineveh Plain."
"The security forces also detonated three boom-mobiles, as well as killing six members of ISIS who attacked the al-Hadr intersection, south of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
," the statement added.
Yesterday, the PMU also managed to shoot down a drone belonging to ISIS, west of Mosul, according to IraqiNews.
Iraqi spooks capture ISIS offices
Nineveh (Islamic State) Iraqi military intelligence services said Wednesday they seized Islamic State offices in eastern Mosul as operations proceed to clear that part of the city from militants.
A statement by the service said the offices were used by IS Russian and Tajik fighters, and were found to contain “an integral communication system”.
The facility also contained documents promoting Islamic State ideology both in Arabic and Russian.
The statement added that agents, searching another facility in Hadba and al-Kindi areas, also ran into mannequins which militants would clad with military uniforms as a decoys for advancing security forces.
Last October, Iraqi forces, backed by US-led advisers and fighter jets, as well as popular militias, launched operations to retake the city which fell to Islamic State militants in 2014. Iraqi generals said recently they became in control over 90 percent of the city’s eastern section and hope to move later to recapture the IS-held west.
The recapture of Mosul, IS’s last urban stronghold in Iraq, would represent the most remarkable victory over the extremist group in Iraq and deal the strongest blow to its influence in the region. Mosul was previously designated as the capital of the group’s self-styled “Islamic Caliphate”.
Fighting in eastern Mosul still going strong
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A commander at Iraqi joint forces’ battles against Islamic State militants in eastern Mosul denied Wednesday reports that the east of the city was completely liberated.
News websites had circulated a statement by the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces, which spearheaded the battles against the extremist group in Mosul since October, saying the eastern side of Mosul was officially liberated, and that 3300 militants were killed since the launch of operations.
It was later clarified that the force only became in control over districts assigned to it, as explained by Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, who leads the Joint Operations Command battles in Nineveh.
However, the government forces are still a few districts away from announcing the full recapture of that region.
A JOC spokesperson, Brigadieer General Yahia Rasoul, was quoted Tuesday as saying that only four districts remained to declare eastern Mosul as Islamic State-free.
The recapture of eastern Mosul would represent a significant impetus for forces which hope to move to the IS-dominated western region of Mosul.
Yarallah said in a statement the forces recaptured the Athariya (archaeological) zone, Tel Nerkal and al-Qadiya in the northeast.
Also in the northeast, Anadolu Agency, quoting a senior commander in the counter-terrorism troops, Fallah al-Abbassi, said 10 civilians were killed, including women and children, and 13 others were wounded when IS militants shelled districts recently recaptured by security forces.
Conflict in Mosul forced at least 178.000 people to flee to refugee camps, and the United Nations had voiced fears that battles could force at least one million out of homes.
Iraqi warbird strike ISIS munitions, fuel supplies
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday, that Iraqi Air Force destroyed an explosives laboratory and a fuel station belonging to the Islamic State in eastern Mosul.
The ministry said in a press statement, “F16 and L159 fighter jets of the Iraqi Air Force conducted several air strikes, based on information obtained from the General Directorate of Intelligence and Security, against the Islamic State in eastern Mosul.”
“The air strikes destructed an explosives laboratory, caches of weapons and a fuel station belonging to the Islamic State in the areas of al-Rashidiyah, al-Amel neighborhood and al-Qobba in eastern Mosul,” the statement added.
Nineveh Province is witnessing extensive military operations since October 2016, to retake the city of Mosul that was captured by the Islamic State in June 2014.