RNA - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Thursday, as local reports said the Iraqi forces recaptured al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul’s Old City exactly three years from the day that ISIL declared their rule.
Iraqi Forces Liberate Nuri Mosque, Three Years after ISIL Declared Rule
Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces announced that they recaptured al-Nuri Mosque and Hadba neighborhood in Mosul’s Old City on Thursday, exactly three years to the day that ISIL declared their rule.
The mosque and its iconic leaning minaret were blown up by ISIL militants on June 21 as Iraqi forces advanced closer on the Mosul landmark, NRT reported.
The fall of Mosul would effectively mark the end of the Iraqi part of the "caliphate" proclaimed by ISIL on June 29, 2014, though the militant group remains in control of large areas of both Iraq and Syria.
Iraqi Police Clearing Liberated Areas of Mosul from ISIL Elements
Iraqi Federal Police announced a massive operation in Mosul to capture ISIL sleeper cells in the liberated districts of the major city.
According to Wasiq Hamdani, commander of Nineveh Police, alone the forces captured the three ISIL elements in Western and Southeastern neighbourhoods of the city, BasNews reported.
As the army is further isolating the remaining ISIL militants in the Old City of Mosul, the police forces are now busy clearing the already-freed areas.
Iraqi Military Recaptures Two Areas near ISIL-Held Mosque in Mosul’s Old City
Iraqi government forces recaptured two areas at the heart of western Mosul’s Old City as operations push deeper against a few hundred ISIL militants at their last bastion in the city.
The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said army forces took over Hadrat al-Sada and Ahmadiya, Northwest of the Grand Nuri Mosque where ISIL’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the group's rul in parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, Iraqi News reported.
Earlier, Federal Police chief, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, said his forces moved Wednesday through al-Farouq street towards Bab al-Toub, Serjkhana, Bab Jadid and Bab Lakash, all areas in the middle of the medieval district. He revealed that government troops had become in control over 70 percent of the medieval district.
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