Major military gains expected in west Mosul as army closes in on old town, Iraqi general says

MOSUL, Iraq-- Iraq's fast-moving infantry is expected to claim larger military gains in the coming days as it advances towards Mosul's old town in western half of the city. It is  where Islamic militants are still in control of key neighborhoods including the city's Grand Mosque where ISIS leader Abubakir al-Baghdadi proclaimed his caliphate nearly three years ago.

"God willing, in the near future there will be great events which we won't reveal now. But we continue the siege of the old town and have moved towards the area according to earlier plans," General Muhammad Jawad told Rudaw Sunday. 

The army has accelerated its bombing campaign on ISIS targets inside the old town in areas north of the Tigris River despite mounting pressure from rights groups to contain its air raids in areas with large civilian populations. 

Iraq's Observatory for Human Rights said this week that the army may have attacked neighborhoods in western districts despite detailed information about the remaining residents in the targeted areas. The army has previously accused ISIS of using local people as human shields.

Military sources told Rudaw that the distance between the army and the ISIS fighters in the old town is less than 100 meters, with snipers on both sides attacking targets. 

"ISIS uses civilians as human shields," Mosul resident Ahmed Matar told Rudaw. "The more the Iraqi troops close in, the more ISIS takes civilian hostages to move around in the area," said Matar who had been hiding in his home in a district of the old town, which is now retaken by the army.

Nearly all tall buildings in the area have been destroyed after a month-long intense gun- battle. The Nineveh Provincial Council unanimously declared Mosul as a "destroyed province" on Sunday and said the reconstruction of the city was a "duty of the central government" in Baghdad. 

"The significance of this decision is that now the destruction of the city is officially recognized which means that the government is responsible for its revival and should do its utmost to restore the entire province from the war destruction," said head of the Provincial Council, Bashar Kiki.