ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – At least 108 ISIS militants were killed, five car bombs were detonated and an unmanned drone was shot down in Mosul, as multi-pronged military operations continued to unfold in the almost three-month-old battle for the extremists’ last major stronghold in Iraq.
“The Iraqi joint security forces in northern Mosul launched a raid on liberated areas from ISIS, discovering and later detonating three car bombs,” the Iraqi government published on Thursday. “At least 15 ISIS militants were killed during the raid and an unmanned drone was shot down, in coordination with the US-led coalition.”
Iraqi forces liberated two more neighborhoods in southern Mosul on Thursday, bringing the total number of the liberated neighborhoods to 55.
“On the eastern side of Mosul, the Iraqi Federal Police and ninth armored division liberated Sahiroon and Somariya neighborhoods," it detailed.
It further explained that in these two neighborhoods 89 militants were shot, two boats, five car bombs and six shelters used by the militants were destroyed, and another unmanned drone was seized.
"Four ISIS militants were killed in southeastern Mosul,” the report read.
The Shiite paramilitary Hashd al-Shaabi continued to fight ISIS west of Mosul.
“The village of Hajaf in southern Tal Abta was reclaimed from ISIS and that they suffered heavy material damages and causalities,” the report added.
The US-led coalition against ISIS reported heavy bombardments in Thursday’s strike report.
“In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, and fighter aircraft as well as rocket artillery against ISIL targets,” it read.
Furthermore, the coalition made five strikes, which engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroyed three fighting positions, three ISIL-held buildings, two heavy machine guns, two mortar systems, a command and control node, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) factory, a VBIED, an ISIL unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a supply cache, and an artillery system and damaged 24 supply routes and an ISIL-held building.
After weeks of heavy fighting and suffering many casualties in the bid for Mosul, Iraqi army officials claim that 80 percent of the eastern bank of Mosul is liberated from ISIS.
The final push to evict ISIS from the group's stronghold of Mosul kicked off on Oct. 17 with Kurdish forces securing the outlying areas to the east and northeastern sides. Hashd al-Shaabi moved in from the west and the Iraqi army squeezed up from the south.
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