Mousl’s Old City witnessed increasing battles on Monday, leading to the killing of a large number of people in both ISIS extremist group and Iraqi joint forces, as an Iraqi special force headed to Nuri Mosque in which ISIS leader Abu Baker Al Baghdadi announced his caliphate in Iraq. Meanwhile the Iraqi forces managed to liberate five villages in the city of Mousl.
Several Iraqi soldiers, Islamic State militants were killed in fierce confrontations that took place in the vicinity of Madinat al-Tib (medical city), in western Mosul, an informed security source said.
“Three soldiers and eleven militants were killed during confrontations that occurred on Monday at the areas surrounding Madinet al-Tib, in al-Shifa district, northwest of Mosul,” the source told Shafaaq News. Security troops, according to the source, cordoned off the medical city and now besiege the militants inside. He expected it to be fully liberated within the coming few hours.
Earlier on Saturday, the Iraqi government forces recaptured Zanjili district in western Mosul, leaving only one district of al-Shifa in Islamic State’ grip before reaching its strategic stronghold in the Old City neighborhood, which is home to the Grand Nuri Mosque, the place where IS supreme leader proclaimed the group’s rule in Iraq in 2014.
Less than 1000 fighters remaining in the Old City, according to commanders from the Iraqi leadership and the allied U.S.-led coalition. The eastern side of Mosul city was liberated in January after three months of battles. Another offensive was launched in February to liberate the western flank of the city.
Iraqi government forces made incursions on Monday into western Mosul’s Old City district, Islamic State’s last bastion in the city, an officer has said. Cap. Adel Haider, from Nineveh police service, told BasNews that Federal Police forces invaded Bab Sinjar popular market, engaging in violent encounters with IS militants who included suicide bombers.
“Security forces are putting the market under a full siege…..and killed nearly 23 militants, including suicide attackers,” Haider said, adding that army warplanes backed the offensive.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said Sunday its forces invaded the Old City from Bab Sinjar, a northern entrance, after recapturing Zanjili district. The Old City, currently IS’s last hideout in western Mosul, was the birthplace of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” when supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a sermon with the announcement in 2014.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched another offensive in mid February to retake the western side of the city.
Also on Monday, DPA quoted Iraqi security sources saying that field hospitals had received the dead bodies of 21 IS militants from several areas retaken from the extremist group. The corpses, which bore gunshot marks in the head, had been strewn at streets, the source said, adding they had probably been executed by unknown individuals.
On the other hand, Commander of Anbar Operations, Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi announced, on Sunday, that a key headquarters belonging to the Islamic State was destroyed by an air strike, south of the province.
Falahi said in a press statement that the international coalition air force managed, today, to destroy a main headquarters belonging to the Islamic State, on the banks of al-Razaza Lake, south of Anbar.
The headquarters included hideouts, and barrels containing explosive materials, Falahi added. The international coalition air strike killed 7 terrorists inside the headquarters, while security forces seized 6 motorcycles and dismantled 21 improvised explosive devices, Falahi explained. Noteworthy, Islamic State militants are frequently trying to sneak into al-Razaza Lake, while forces from the army’s 8th brigade manage to foil these attempts.