Iraqi army make advances in northern Mosul

Record ID: 163579

  • Title: Iraqi army make advances in northern Mosul
  • Date: 9th January 2017
  • Summary: BLOOD ON FLOOR
  • Embargoed: 24th January 2017 16:47
  • Keywords: Iraq Mosul Islamic State
  • Location: HADBA, NORTHERN MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: HADBA, NORTHERN MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0025YD1EFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
    Iraqi army forces recaptured an apartment complex in the Hadba district of Northern Mosul, on Sunday (January 8) after fierce battles with Islamic State militants in the area.
    A senior army commander, Major-General Najm al-Jubbouri, toured the area on Monday (January 9), one day after the militants were pushed out and praised troops that took part in liberating the area.
    "Since we began (the operation) and entered the area, we had no losses. Later they (Islamic State militants) went crazy and sent us many vehicle borne explosives and suicide bombers," he said.
    Soldiers posed for photos with black Islamic State flags, and the corpses of several Islamic State fighters could be seen.
    Islamic State fighters had carried out four to five suicide car bomb attacks in the area since Friday (January 6), Iraqi army officers said.
    Monday's advances in Mosul consolidated Iraqi forces' control of several districts close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, east of the river.
    Iraqi special forces made further advances against Islamic State on Monday, pushing militants from another eastern district and edging closer to army units nearby, officers in the city said.
    Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) said it was working to seize areas overlooking Mosul University in the city's northeast, after taking over a nearby district.
    The latest advances brought more of eastern Mosul under Iraqi forces' control a day after elite units reached the Tigris river, as the U.S.-backed offensive to drive Islamic State from its last major stronghold in the country pressed ahead with renewed vigour.
    The offensive against Islamic State, which began in October, stalled last month but has regained momentum in the last week.
    Recapturing Mosul after more than two years of IS rule would probably spell the end of the Iraqi wing of the group's self-declared caliphate, which spans areas of Iraq and Syria.
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