ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 1,000 ISIS militants have been killed and 10 neighborhoods on the eastern and southeastern sides of Mosul liberated by Iraqi armed forces since the launch of an offensive to retake the city last month, the Iraqi military said.
“In general, ISIS is greatly damaged and defeated as 1,100 militants of the group have been killed since the start of the Mosul offensive,” Lieutenant General Adnan Assadi, told Rudaw.
Assadi added that Iraqi “counter terrorism forces have also been able to regain control of 10 neighborhoods of Mosul while ISIS was putting up stiff resistance in these neighborhoods as they were strongly present.”
Assadi said the army continues its advances on several other neighborhoods including “al-Zahra and Samah1.”
Samah2 has been liberated, he added.
Assadi said the army was aiming for the city center.
“We also help rescue civilians,” apart from fighting ISIS, he noted.
According to UN officials, an estimated 48,000 people have now fled Mosul since the military offensive that began on October 17.
ISIS, which is still in control of most parts of the city in particular the western bank of the Tigris River, has been using car bombs and snipers to halt or slow down the advance of the Iraqi forces.
The Iraqi War Media Office reported last week that their forces are clearing areas that have come under their control in the last few days, but reports from the battlefield indicate a slow and fierce street fight between Iraqi troops and ISIS militants in areas declared free.
