Tabnak – As the battle to retake Mosul, the second largest Iraqi city form ISIS terrorists is still underway, new reports have been published by local and international media about the Iraqi troops’ advances in the western parts of the city. Having previous successes against the terrorist in mind, one could be hopeful that the Mosul operation has been finally entered its most serious phase and the prospect to win is now more promising.
According to the Iraqi news outlet "Iraqi News”, Iraqi troops recaptured on Tuesday a village and a residential district in western Mosul as a security campaign presses on to clear the region from Islamic State militants.
In a similar report, "Anadolu Agency” quoted a military officer saying the troops took over the Wadi Hajar district in the southern area of western Mosul. "Iraqi forces fought fierce battles with militants holed up in Wadi Hajar, located in Daesh-held western Mosul,” Colonel Ahmed al-Jubouri of the army’s Nineveh Operations Command told the Agency.
Local Kurdish new website "Rudaw” also published a report saying that ISIS terrorists have put up a fierce fight against the advancing forces, but face intense airstrikes who target ISIS positions in the area by the use of helicopters.
An Iraqi senior commander told Rudaw that it was especially hard for their forces to breach the ISIS concrete defence lines in al-Tayyaran district which was liberated this week, and is next to the Wadi al-Hajar.
Among the other sources, "CNN” writes about the top ISIS commanders who are running away from their strongholds in Mosul. According to the report, the commander of Iraq's federal police has said ISIS militants in western Mosul are looking to cut and run from their defense of the group's last remaining stronghold in the country. Cmdr. Ra'ed Shaker Jawdat said ISIS militants were increasingly cut off from each other, and that its leaders were fleeing the remaining pockets of militant control.
Earlier, Iraqi militants and government troops had targeted an ISIS meeting in a town outside Mosul, killing and injuring dozens, according to the Popular Mobilization Unit's (PMU) media unit. PMU artillery targeted the meeting, which was being held near a police station in Tal Afar, a largely Turkmen town around 70 km (43 miles) west of Mosul, the northern Iraqi town which has been the focus of a huge Iraqi military operation in recent weeks and months.
The Iraqi government launched February 19th a major offensive to clear western Mosul from Islamic State militants, having recaptured the eastern region late January.
Government troops have recently pushed closer to central Mosul, where many strategic government facilities are located. They had made remarkable gains retaking the city’s airport and a major military camp when troops began the campaign invading the region from the south.
