Elite forces progressing steadily in Mosul: CTS commander

Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) say they are progressing steadily in their operations to liberate the Daesh-held city of Mosul from its terrorist occupants.

On Wednesday, CTS troops entered the northeastern neighborhood of Qahera, where they commenced operations to purge Daesh militants from it and surrounding districts.

Major General Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, a CTS commander, told reporters that after deployment the troops split up into two groups heading south and north.

“The troops made good progress in both directions according to plan. Troops heading south secured almost 70 percent of al-Ikha neighborhood, which is an important neighborhood,” he said.

He noted that the forces had now surrounded the al-Ilam, al-Tamim and al-Noor neighborhoods, and were preparing to cut off the supply routes to the al-Quds and al-Karama neighborhoods.

“These neighborhoods are very important as they constitute lines where troops of army’s 9th Division are positioned. As for troops heading north, they have achieved 70 percent of plan,” he stressed.

Earlier, Iraqi fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units liberated two more villages close to Mosul. Some 2,300 families, whom Daesh terrorists were using as human shields, were also freed during the offensives to free al-Buthah and al-Salehiyah villages.

After months of preparation, Iraqi army soldiers, backed by volunteer fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and Daesh’s last urban stronghold in the country, will be fully recaptured by year-end.