Iraqi forces have launched second phase of operation on retaking of Mosul
Iraqi troops launched a second phase of the operation for liberation of Mosul from ISIS terrorists. Separate groups of special services advanced deep into the eastern parts of the city. This is the first offensive after a two-week lull.
Special forces on Thursday advanced into the Karama and Quds neighborhoods, while army troops and federal police gained ground in nearby Intisar, Salam and Sumor neighborhoods.
"This is the second phase of the operation to liberate Mosul conducted by the special forces, the federal police and us on this front," General Nejm Jabouri, a senior army commander, told Reuters.
Army troops and allied fighters launched the long-awaited offensive to retake Mosul nine weeks ago. Since then, they have retaken a quarter of the city but their advance has been slow in the face of fierce Daesh resistance.
The battle for Mosul involves 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Shia volunteers and is the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the US invasion of the country in 2003.
Daesh terrorists, who took the city in 2014 when they overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, have executed scores of residents in recent weeks, accusing them of collaboration with government troops.
The militants are currently isolated inside the eastern bank of Mosul, military spokesman Yahia Rassol told state television on Thursday.
"In the coming days, Iraqi forces will liberate the entire left bank of Mosul and after that we will tackle the right," he said.
A senior officer said counter-terrorism forces are now less than three kilometers from the Tigris River which slices the city in half. The elite force is conducting the major part of the operation inside Mosul, with other troops remaining outside the city so far.
Source: presstv.com.