Iraqi government forces gain more ground against Daesh terrorists in Mosul

Iraqi government forces have managed to regain control over a number of neighborhoods in Mosul as they try to flush Daesh Takfiri militants out of the strategic northern city in joint operations with allied fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

The Iraqi Federal Police announced in a statement on Monday that security personnel had wrested full control of Palestine neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, killing 35 Daesh terrorists in the process, Arabic-language al-Baghdadia television network reported.

Members of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) also killed a large number of Daesh extremists and inflicted heavy material damage on their positions in al-Baladiyat neighborhood of eastern Mosul, before recapturing the area.

Iraqi forces raised the national flag over several buildings there afterward.

Additionally, Iraqi rapid response forces took control of Dumiz neighborhood in southeastern Mosul, and hoisted the national flag in the district.

Pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, also thwarted a Daesh offensive against Adayah intersection southwest of Mosul. Ten Daesh militants were slain during the fierce fighting with volunteer fighters.

Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) members monitor the sky for drones during a battle against Takfiri Daesh militants in Mosul's al-Rifaq neighborhood on January 8, 2017, as a military operation against the terrorists continues there. (Photo by AFP)

Moreover, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced that Iraqi Air Force fighter jets had destroyed several workshops used for rigging vehicles with explosives, explosive-laden cars and a pickup truck equipped with a heavy machine gun during a string of airstrikes against Dash positions in Sanaiyah, Sumer, Wahda, Palestine, Intisar and Karamah neighborhoods in eastern Mosul.

The JOC statement said that 25 Daesh terrorist were killed in the aerial attacks as well.

Commander of Iraq's Counterterrorism Department Major General Sami al-Arezi said 38 Daesh terrorists were killed after security forces foiled their assault against archaeological sites in the eastern flank of Mosul. There were reportedly several foreign citizens among the slain Takfiris.

Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from allied Hashd al-Sha’abi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

A total of 137,880 people, or 22,980 families, have been displaced from Mosul and neighboring areas ever since the start of the operations, according to figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday.