RNA - "The Iraqi forces have completed the siege of the ISIL terrorists in Mosul as they are making considerable advances in the city's Eastern and Western flanks as well," the Arabic-language al-Sabah news website quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as saying on Saturday.
The Iraqi prime minister reiterated that around 30 percent of Mosul residents are under the direct protection of the government troops, while security forces are trying to rescue more families from terrorists' control.
"Our military operations backed by the country's air force have resulted in cutting off the ISIL's routes in different parts of Mosul city," al-Abadi added.
Meantime, senior commander of Mosul liberation operation Najm al-Jabouri announced that the Iraqi forces are now advancing towards residential areas in the Southern front and towards Mosul airport.
Commander of the Iraqi Counterterrorism Police Abdulwahhab al-Saedi also said that his forces attacked al-Jame'a and al-Masaref districts in Northeastern Mosul.
Rocket Attack Hits Hashd Al-Shaabi Meeting after Iraqi PM Leaves Venue
Hashd al-Shaabi demanded the US-led international coalition to provide an explanation as a missile launched through the coalition-controlled airspace in the recently-recaptured Tal Afar airport and targeted the leadership meeting of popular forces.
In a statement, Hashed al-Shaabi ruled out that the missile, which landed only one meter and a half from the convocation, could have been fired by the terrorist group, Iraqi News reported.
“Yesterday a tent hosting a meeting by Hashd al-Shaabi was targeted by a missile, shortly after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had left, leaving a number of fighters wounded,” the statement read.
“Inspecting the rocket’s remains, it was concluded that it had not been fired by ISIL terrorists; it was a laser-guided missile fired by an aircraft,” the statement added, noting that coalition drones were roaming the area at the time of the meeting.
ISIL Governor in Tal Afar Flees to Syria with Millions in Cash
The ISIL governor in Tal Afar has fled to Syria with a large amount of cash, local sources in Nineveh province disclosed on Saturday.
"The ISIL's Tal Afar governor accompanied by four of his deputies, all of them foreigners, including the terrorist group's treasurer Abu Islam Uzbeki, have escaped to the town of Baaj and from there to Syria with a lot of cash they had collected from selling stolen crude and collecting tax," the Arabic-language media quoted an unnamed source as saying on Saturday.
The source noted that the ISIL governor and his accomplices have taken millions of dollars with them and intend to escape to other countries.
ISIL Transferring Physicians from Deir Ezzur to Raqqa, Mosul
The ISIL terrorist group has called on a number of specialists in Deir Ezzur to prepare themselves and their family members to move to other regions, local sources disclosed on Saturday.
"Given the large number of wounded members in Mosul and Raqqa and lack of physicians, the ISIL has forced a number of physicians in Deir Ezzur, specially those residing in al-Mayadeen and Bu Kamal, to move to specified regions in Mosul and Raqqa," the sources added.
They said ISIL transfers most of its wounded members from al-Bab and other regions East of Aleppo province to Raqqa hospitals while those injured in areas and towns near Mosul to the oil-rich city's medical centers, and added, "Certain districts of Deir Ezzur are witnessing sporadic clashes between the Syrian army and the ISIL but clashes are not as heavy as Mosul and Aleppo and therefore, the ISIL has decided to transfer the physicians to those regions."
ISIL Executes More People in Mosul
ISIL executed 15 people, mostly youths, in Mosul late Friday over accusations of cooperating with security forces and mutiny against the terrorist group.
The ISIL group took 15 people out from their residences late Friday before executing them by a fire squad inside a public park in Mohandessin district, Captain Hamad al-Ebeidi told National Iraqi News Agency (NINA).
He said that the militants also blew up five homes previously used as detention facilities, as well as four booby-trapped vehicles in Northern and Eastern Mosul.
Tal Afar Operation: Popular Forces Recapture More Villages
Hashd al-Shaabi captured one more village on its way to liberating the strategic town of Tal Afar in Nineveh province, from the ISIL militants.
The popular forces' media service said they took over the village of Khodeir Southwest of Tal Afar after engaged in heavy clashes with ISIL, adding that the group uses civilians as human shields, Iraqi News reported.
Hashd al-Shaabi also brought down an ISIL-run drone in Um Nekheila village, and also destroyed two booby-trapped vehicles.
847/940