News / Iraq

Iraqi forces battling Daesh make further gains in Mosul

Monday, 16 January 2017 2:50 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 16 January 2017 7:25 PM ]

Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) stand guard after a car bomb exploded during an operation to clear the al-Andalus district of Daesh terrorists, in Mosul, Iraq, January 16, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) have made further advances against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the strategic northern city of Mosul, pushing extremists out of three more eastern districts.

The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said the forces recaptured al-Jammasah neighborhood on Monday noon, and are moving to seize Nabi Yunus, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi special forces established control over al-Kandi and al-Qayrawan neighborhoods and raised the national flag over a cluster of buildings there.

Yarallah noted that government troops had inflicted heavy losses on Daesh ranks and military equipment during the operations.

Moreover, Federal Police forces managed to liberate Nabi Yunus Grand Mosque in central Mosul from the Daesh grip, and hoisted the Iraqi flag over it.

Members of the Iraqi Directorate of General Military Intelligence (DGMI) also uncovered a workshop in the Hodaba neighborhood of Mosul, which Daesh terrorists used to manufacture Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

The DGMI announced in a statement that Iraqi forces found drones as long as six meters, which were to be loaded with explosive charges inside the building.

Iraqi correspondent, cameraman injured in Mosul

The correspondent and cameraman for the US-based Arabic-language al-Hurra television network also sustained gunshot wounds while covering the Iraqi army advances in eastern Mosul.

An unnamed security source said Abdulhamid al-Zebari and Yasser Salem were injured as Iraqi forces and Daesh Takfiris engaged in a fierce gun battle. The pair have reportedly been transferred to a local hospital to receive medical treatment.

In this file photo, al-Hurra TV correspondent Abdulhamid al-Zebari reports from the outskirts of Khazir village, east of Mosul, Iraq.

Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from Popular Mobilization Units -- commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi -- and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17, 2016 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

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