RNA - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Thursday with Iraqi military forces seizing control of major roads West of the Northern city Mosul city and the progress has effectively left ISIL militants under siege in the Western part of the city.
ISIL Under Siege in Western Mosul, Iraqi Forces Seize All Key Supply Routes
Iraqi military forces seized control of major roads West of the Northern city Mosul city and the progress has effectively left ISIL militants under siege in Western part of the city.
The Iraqi government recaptured Eastern Mosul late January and launched a new phase of operations to clear the Western region last month, and the siege on the ISIL seems effective as the Iraqi troops are now in control of Eastern Mosul and all main roads around the city, ARA News reported.
Also, ISIL major supply lines between Mosul and the Syrian border were blocked completely by the Iraqi forces. The road links Mosul to Tal Afar, another ISIL stronghold 60 km (40 miles) to the West, and then to the Syrian border.
Iraqi Military Forces Thwart ISIL Assault in Western Mosul
Iraqi pro-government forces frustrated an attack by ISIL militants in Mosul as they press ahead with their operation to drive the terrorists out of their last urban stronghold in the Arab state.
An unnamed senior officer told reporters that a number of militants had managed to get near elite Iraqi units in the Southwestern part of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers North of the capital Baghdad on Thursday, posing as internally displaced people, presstv reported.
The militants were neutralized before they could carry out any act of terror.
Iraqi Joint Forces Thwart ISIL Plan to Attack Samarra
Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced that the country's security forces managed to foil an attempt to conduct a comprehensive attack on the city of Samarra.
“The command received intelligence indicating that the ISIL terror group is planning to raid the city of Samarra,” the Joint Operations Command said in a press statement, Iraqi News reported.
“After studying the targets, the Joint Operations Command decided to conduct an extensive air strike, targeting the ISIL,” the statement explained.
“Iraqi Air Force carried out an air strike, based on information obtained from Falcon Intelligence Cell, on a headquarters belonging to ISIL in al-Baida area, killing 15 terrorists, including 10 suicide bombers,” the statement added.
Iraqi Troops Arrest Seven ISIL Leaders in Central Mosul
Iraqi forces engaged in the offensive of Mosul stormed al-Mansour district, South of Mosul, and arrested several ISIL commanders in the area, a military official said.
"The security forces were able to push into the al-Mansur area, which is considered a major stronghold of ISIL in South of Mosul," Ahmed Faris, an officer from the Iraqi Federal Police said, BAS News reported.
He added that "military intelligence also arrested seven of ISIL leaders in al-Tairan area in Central Mosul."
Two British Medics Working for ISIL Killed in Iraq
Two British medics who abandoned studies in Sudan to join the ISIL militant group with other students have been killed in fighting in Iraq, reports said.
Ahmed Sami Khider and Hisham Fadlallah died at the weekend, with Khider believed to have been killed in a convoy trying to leave Mosul, which Iraqi forces are trying to retake from ISIL militants, New Arab reported.
It is unclear if Fadlallah was killed in the same incident.
The two men had been part of a group of nine mainly British-Sudanese medical students from Khartoum's University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) who had joined ISIL in 2015.
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