Battle for Mosul Day 20:

Hashd Al-Sha'abi Cuts off ISIL's Route to Syria

Rasa - Iraq's military offensive to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Tuesday with the Secretary General of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri reporting that the country's volunteer forces have cut off the terrorists' main escape route to Syria from the city of Mosul.

News ID: 424893

Date: 08 November 2016 - 21:35

RNA - Iraq's military offensive to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Tuesday with the Secretary General of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri reporting that the country's volunteer forces have cut off the terrorists' main escape route to Syria from the city of Mosul.

Hashd Al-Sha'abi Cuts off ISIL's Mosul-Syria Access Route

Secretary General of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri underlined that the country's volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) have cut the terrorists' main escape route to Syria from the city of Mosul in Iraq's Nineveh province.

"The Hashd al-Shaabi has disconnected the ISIL terrorists' main supply route from Mosul city to the border regions near Syria," al-Ameri said on Tuesday.

Al-Ameri pointed to Hashd al-Shaabi's military gains in the Western part of Mosul city, and said, "Hashd al-Shaabi's achievements in Western Mosul have also facilitated the advances of Iraq's joint military forces in the city's Eastern parts."

Iraqi Air Force Kills 12 Terrorists, ISIL's Large Missile Store Destroyed in Mosul

Iraq's F-16 aircraft destroyed a large store for ISIL terror group’s missiles in the right side of the city of Mosul, Iraqi military said.

“Based on information provided by the National Intelligence Service, the Iraqi Air Force’s F16 aircrafts have directed an air strike resulted in the destruction of a large store of missiles and ammunition as well as a large amounts of weapons belonging to ISIL terrorist gangs and destroyed it completely in addition to the killing of 12 terrorists in the right side in Mosul,” a statement by the Iraqi military said, Badr News reported.

Earlier in a separate development, deputy commander of the Iraqi Army's anti-terrorism forces managed to kill the 'Treasury Emir' of ISIL, who was in charge of the group's financial affairs in an operation in the Western coast of Mosul.

16 US Servicemen Killed, 27 Injured during Fighting near Mosul

Sixteen US servicemen were killed and 27 more injured in the ongoing operation of liberating the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIL militants, a military-diplomatic source in Moscow said.

"Over the first two weeks of the ground military operation in Mosul, 16 US servicemen were killed and another 27 were injured. Most instances of death and injuries of servicemen represent the result of hitting a landmine, or coming under artillery or mortar shelling attacks," the source said, TASS reported. .

There were also cases when servicemen died as a result of weak coordination of actions between US aviation and special forces units.

Hundreds Liberated as Iraqi Forces Find Underground ISIL Prison

A local official in Iraq's Nineveh Province said that a large ISIL prison had been discovered by security forces South of the province, in the al-Shura area.

According to Nineveh Provincial Council member Hussam al-Din al-Abbar, the underground prison, containing more than a 1,000 inmates, among them captured Iraqi troops and police officers, was uncovered by joint forces providing security and removing explosives from the area, Iraqi News reported.

"ISIL tortured and arrested thousands of Nineveh residents and committed many crimes against the citizens who violated its instructions," the official added.

100 Beheaded Bodies Discovered in Mass Grave near Mosul

A mass grave containing 100 decapitated bodies was discovered inside a school South of the ISIL-held city of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

Iraqi soldiers came across the grave in the School of Agriculture in the town of Hammam al-Alil that was recaptured from ISIL terrorists, spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Military Command Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool said in a statement, RT reported.

Most of the bodies have been reduced to skeletons. Due to the decaying process of the bodies as well as their clothes it’ is hard to establish whether these were soldiers or civilians, Rasool added. A forensics team from Baghdad is set to investigate the site and carry out tests on the bodies.

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