Iraqi Federal Police forces seized several buildings in the Zanjili district north of the old city of Mosul, as they managed to kill 26 extremists and to destroy two car bombs and 12 vehicles with heavy weapons. Iraqi forces managed to arrest two people near Tuzkhurmatu in the province of Salah al-Din, one of the recruitment officer in ISIS extremist group.
Meanwhile, Ministerial Council for National Security held a meeting under the chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Haider al-Abadi discussed the training of the Iraqi forces to fight ISIS extremist group in the desert areas.
Military sources have said that liberation of Mosul will not last for more than one week to prevent battling in the city after June 10, which marks the day on which Mosul fell to hands of the Islamic State militants in 2014, reports mentioned.
News websites quoted sources as saying that Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi gave instructions to prepare for celebrations in the country after liberation of Mosul, which will be declared through him and not in military statements like what happened with other cities when freed from IS.
Elimination of IS militants in Mosul killed and injured more than 30,000 civilians,most of whom were women and children, over the past eight-month old battle, which started in October, the sources added. Hundreds of violations were recorded by local and foreign organizations. The total count of losses and destruction of more than eighty percent of the city was estimated to be more than US$50 billion.
Iraqi generals had earlier predicted recapturing the city in mid-May before start of the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday. Iraqi commanders say they at least 90 percent of territories in western Mosul is under Iraqi troops control, predicting to retake the city before the end of May. Only two districts besides the Old City are under IS control.
Iraqi forces have been sweeping through northwestern neighborhoods over the past few weeks in a way to invade the strategic Old City, after finding it hard to invade from the south. The eastern side of Mosul was retaken in January after three months of battles. Another major offensive was launched in February to recapture the western flank of the city.
Forty-five civilians were killed and injured in airstrikes that hit Mosul’s Old City early on Sunday, news reports mentioned.
A local source told Al-Furat Al-Ikhbari news website that twenty civilians were killed, while more than 25 others were wounded in an airstrike launched by the international coalition led by the U.S. at al-Farouq street and Hadiret al-Sadah, north of the Old City.
The Old City is home of the ancient Grand Nuri Mosque, from which the group’s Supreme Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave a famous sermon in 2014 declaring the establishment of the ‘caliphate’. Previously in May, the Joint Operations Command said more than 16,000 IS fighters were killed since start of Mosul operations in October.
Iraqi commanders say they at least 90 percent of territories in western Mosul is under Iraqi troops control, predicting to retake the city before the end of May. Only two districts besides the Old City are under IS control.
Iraqi forces have been sweeping through northwestern neighborhoods over the past few weeks in a way to invade the strategic Old City, after finding it hard to invade from the south. The eastern side of Mosul was retaken in January after three months of battles. Another major offensive was launched in February to recapture the western flank of the city.
On the other hand, Qatar has asked to transfer ransom money meant for the release of Qatari hunters from their captors in Iraq to Shia paramilitary troops as a “gift”, a Saudi newspaper has claimed
Quoting unnamed Iraqi sources, Saudi paper Okaz said in a report on Monday that  Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed  bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who met with Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad last week, had asked to transfer US$500 million, originally meant as ransom payment for the hunters’ release, as a “gift” to the Popular Mobilization Units, the alliance of Iran-trained Shia paramilitary groups fighting Islamic State militants alongside the Iraqi government forces.
The 26 Qataris, including members of the country’s ruling royal family, were abducted by militiamen during a hunting trip in southern Iraq in 2015. They were released in April.
A diplomatic row erupted upon the release of the captives when Baghdad said it discovered suitcases containing hundreds of millions of dollars in the possession of a high-profile Qatari delegation which arrived in Iraq to follow up on the release. While Baghdad suggested the amount was meant to pay ransom to kidnappers without its approval, Doha maintained the money entered Iraq with the government’s knowledge, and that it was designed to “support the Iraqi government’s efforts” to ensure the release of the abductees.
Okaz added that the Qatari move came before Al Thani and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Qassem Suleimani, held a meeting in Baghdad a week earlier.
The Saudi newspaper’s report comes amid a growing rift between Qatar and its Gulf allies led by Saudi Arabia regarding relations with Iran. Qatar has criticized the outcome of a U.S.-Arab summit held in Riyadh last week which, it said, involved an escalation against Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch regional rival.
The report also comes after recent diplomatic tensions that saw Saudi Arabia blocking a number of prominent Qatari media outlets over statements attributed to Qatari king Tamim bin Hamad which criticized the Riyadh summit’s stance against Iran. Qatar has denied the statements, saying the media outlets had been hacked.