RNA - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Wednesday with reports saying that Iraqi forces retook at least 80 percent of east Mosul from the terror group.
Iraq Forces Retake 80% of Eastern Mosul
Iraqi forces retook at least 80 percent of east Mosul from ISIL, the spokesman of the special forces spearheading the campaign said Wednesday.
"I think you can say that we have retaken 80 to 85 percent" of the Eastern side of Mosul, Sabah al-Noman, said spokesman for the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), the Daily Star reported.
Tens of thousands of troops launched a large-scale offensive to retake Mosul, ISIL' last major bastion in Iraq, and areas around it on Oct. 17.
Iraq Army, Local Tribes Foil ISIL Attack West of Anbar
Iraqi Army and tribal forces foiled on Wednesday an attack by ISIL militants on Anbar’s city of Ramadi.
Hamad al-Karbouli, a regiment commander at Anbar’s tribal mobilization forces, said army and tribal forces foiled the attack which targeted the Kabisa area, West of Ramadi, Iraqi News reported.
Encounters between the forces and militants lasted for more than one hour but attackers eventually fled to desert areas, according to Karbouli.
ISIL Destroying Bridges on Tigris River to Hinder Mosul Offensive
Officials in Iraq's Ministry of Defense said that ISIL terror group detonated two bridges in the city of Mosul, in order to hinder the advance of security of security forces to the Western side of the city, reports said.
“Today, ISIL detonated the 5th bridge and the iron bridge in the western side of Mosul," the officials said, Al Masdar reported.
“ISIL detonated the bridges in order to hinder the advance of security forces to the Western side of Mosul,” they added.
Iraq Popular Forces Senior Commander Urges Turkish Troop to Leave
A senior commander of Iraq's popular forces fighting ISIL with the government troops urged Turkey to unconditionally withdraw its military forces from Iraq and threatened to use force against Turkish troops in Nineveh if Ankara refuses to withdraw them.
Jawad al-Tleibawi, a senior member of Popular Mobilization Units, also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, said in press statements on Wednesday that the PMU are “capable of forcing out the Turkish occupiers if diplomacy and political negotiations fail to”, Iraqi News reported.
He labelled statements by Ankara officials which partially conditioned the withdrawal upon pulling out al-Hashd from Nineveh as “a flagrant intervention in Iraq’s domestic affairs”.
Iraqi Commander: ISIL Resistance in Mosul Weakening
A top Iraqi commander said the number of car bomb deployed in ISIL attacks against Iraqi forces advancing in Mosul has fallen sharply to just a few a day.
Major General Ma'an al-Sa'adi of the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, which has done much of the fighting in East Mosul, said ISIL militants' defense in its last major Iraqi bastion was weakening, Dawn reported.
“Car bombs have been a key component” of ISIL’s defence system since a broad offensive, Iraq’s largest military operation in years, was launched on October 17 to retake Mosul, Saadi said.
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