Over 1,300 Daesh terrorists killed in west Mosul battle

Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have killed more than 1,300 members of the Takfiri Daesh militant group ever since they launched joint operations to flush the extremists out of the western part of Mosul.

The commander of the Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said on Wednesday that soldiers from the army’s 9th Armored Division had killed 1,321 Daesh militants, including senior commanders, since the start of the offensive in February, English-language online newspaper Iraqi News reported.

Yarallah added that 55 districts, villages and vital facilities -- or a total area of 406 square kilometers -- had also been liberated from the clutches of Daesh terrorists ever since.

The top Iraqi commander further noted that a total of 111,750 people had also been evacuated from conflict zones and moved to refugee camps.

Moreover, 139 vehicles rigged with explosives had been destroyed and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles shot down, he said, adding that 61 militant hideouts, 10 bomb-making workshops and five command centers were also demolished.

Separately, Major General Wasiq al-Hamdani told Basnews news agency that Federal Police forces had carried out a sweep operation in parts of eastern Mosul, and arrested 20 Daesh terrorists in Karamah, Khadra and Kokceli neighborhoods. A number of high-ranking militant commanders were among those detained.

Hamdani noted that the detainees have been transferred to a police station to undergo interrogation, and face justice at last.

Iraqi CTS forces retake another neighborhood in western Mosul

Meanwhile, members of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) have established control over al-Ma’amel neighborhood in the western flank of Mosul, and raised the national flag over several buildings in the area.

The CTS soldiers also killed a senior Daesh figure, identified as Abu Ayoub al-Shami, and three of his associates during a separate operation in western Mosul. Shami was reportedly Daesh’s commander for the al-Islah al-Zarayeh district.

Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, have made sweeping gains against the Takfiri elements since launching the operation to retake Mosul last October.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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