Iraqi forces make fresh territorial gains against Daesh in Mosul

Iraqi government forces have registered more territorial gains in Mosul as they are battling in joint operations with volunteer fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces to push Daesh Takfiri terrorists out of their last urban stronghold in the Arab country.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said on Saturday that the 9th Armored Division and the 3rd Brigade of the First Division in the Iraqi Army had freed al-Qousiyat village on the outskirts of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, and hoisted the national flag over several buildings there.

The high-profile Iraqi military commander added that government forces had inflicted heavy losses on Daesh ranks and military equipment during the operation as well.

Earlier, the 71st Brigade of the 15th Division and the 76th Brigade of the 16th Division in the Iraqi Army had established complete control over al-Araby neighborhood in eastern Mosul, killing and injuring many Daesh Takfiris in the process.

Colonel John Dorrian, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the Operation Inherent Resolve, also told Sky News Arabia television news network that the US-led military coalition had targeted 90 Daesh boats and three crafts across the Tigris River as the Takfiris were fleeing from the eastern flank of Mosul to the western side.

Dorrian noted that dozens of Daesh terrorists were killed and injured during the airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Daesh terrorists blew up a hotel in the al- Rifa’i neighborhood of Mosul, after they placed a considerable amount of explosives inside the building, and detonated them by remote control.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that at least seven Daesh terrorists were drowned in the Tigris River as they were fleeing from intense clashes between government forces and their extremist comrades in eastern Mosul.

An unnamed local source also said Daesh had placed a number of dummies dressed in military fatigues on a number of buildings in the western part of Mosul in a bid to mislead security forces and military aircraft bombing purported positions of the Takfiris.

The source added that Daesh had also installed a number of Humvee military light trucks made out of wood along streets in Mosul to deceive Iraqi soldiers and cover up the increasing loss of its forces in the strategic northern Iraqi city.

Furthermore, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, engaged Daesh terrorists in Adayah and Tal Zallat regions west of Mosul, killing at least 20 terrorists. Four vehicles and a large amount of munitions belonging to the extremists were also destroyed in those areas.

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