News / Iraq

Bombing leaves three Iraqi policemen dead south of Mosul

Sunday, 23 April 2017 12:44 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 23 April 2017 3:54 PM ]

Members of the Iraqi forces carry guns and ammunition by a Humvee in the Old City of Mosul on April 17, 2017, during an offensive by Iraqi security forces to recapture the city from Takfiri Daesh terrorists. (Photo by AFP)

At least three policemen have been killed after a group of Takfiri Daesh terrorists launched a bomb attack against them south of Mosul as government forces, backed by volunteer fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, try to drive them out of the country’s second largest city.

Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat stated on Sunday that a group of about 10 assailants, including four bombers, tried to infiltrate into a Federal Police helicopter base in al-Areej area north of Hammam al-Alil town.

Jawdat added that the four bombers were killed, while the rest managed to escape to nearby villages and surrounding hills.

The development came on the same day that Kurdistan Region’s Directorate of Counter Terrorism announced that a high-ranking Daesh figure had been killed in a US-led airstrike on Tal Afar city, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

The directorate identified the slain militant as Ali Reda Mahmoud and an official in the self-proclaimed education department of the extremist group.

Iraqi forces advance in western Mosul on April 19, 2017, during their campaign to retake the city from Takfiri Daesh terrorists. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations says nearly half a million civilians have fled fighting since the offensive to retake Mosul from the Daesh terrorists started on October 17, 2016.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on April 17 that 493,000 people had been displaced from the city, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad.

As many as 500,000 civilians are still trapped in Daesh-controlled neighborhoods of western Mosul.

Iraqi army soldiers and pro-government popular fighters have made sweeping gains against the Takfiri elements since launching the operation to retake Mosul.

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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