News / Iraq

Some 260,000 Iraqis freed since west Mosul operation began: Cmdr.

Saturday, 08 April 2017 4:17 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 08 April 2017 4:18 PM ]

Displaced Iraqis (back) walk through Mosul's al-Tayaran neighborhood on April 8, 2017, amid an operation by government forces to retake the western part of the city from Daesh terrorists. (Photo by AFP)

Some 260,000 civilians have been freed from the clutches of Daesh terrorists ever since government soldiers, supported by fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, launched an operation to retake the western part of Mosul, the commander of Iraq’s Federal Police Forces says.

Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat made the announcement on Saturday, adding that Iraqi forces had also killed 512 extremists. A total of 77 snipers were among the slain militants, Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network reported.

The high-ranking security official further noted that Iraqi soldiers had destroyed 256 car bombs in addition to 162 motorbikes rigged with explosives.

He added that government forces had regained control over 61 areas, noting that 12,000 people had already returned to their homes in liberated areas west of Mosul.

Iraqi forces uncover Daesh tunnel south of Mosul

Meanwhile, Iraqi army soldiers discovered a network of tunnels as well as ammunition in Mosul in their military operations to fully liberate the country’s second largest city.

A member of the Iraqi forces inspects a tunnel that was reportedly used as a training center by Daesh terrorists, on March 1, 2017, in the village of Albu Seif, on the southern outskirts of Mosul. (Photo by AFP)

Captain Jassim Mohamed of Nineveh provincial police force said the discovery was made at al-Koliyat neighborhood in the southern flank of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad.

Daesh executes 50 civilians in western Mosul

Furthermore, Daesh extremists executed 50 civilians in the Ras al-Jadah district of western Mosul.

A local source, requesting not to be named, told al-Sumaria television network that the terrorists had killed the victims on charges of “collaboration with government forces.”

This file photo shows Daesh Takfiri terrorists at an undisclosed location in Iraq.

Iraqi army soldiers and popular fighters have made sweeping gains against 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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