Battle for Mosul Day 29:

Iraqi Forces Only 3km from Mosul Airport

Rasa - Iraq's military offensive to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIL's control continued on Tuesday as local officials said that the country's joint military forces have inched closer to the Mosul International Airport and are only few kilometers away from the key infrastructure just South of the city.

News ID: 425083

Date: 15 November 2016 - 23:36

RNA - Iraq's military offensive to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIL's control continued on Tuesday as local officials said that the country's joint military forces have inched closer to the Mosul International Airport and are only few kilometers away from the key infrastructure just South of the city.

Iraqi Forces Only 3km from Mosul Int'l Airport

A member of Nineveh Provincial Council announced that Iraq's joint military forces have inched closer to the Mosul International Airport and are only few kilometers away from the airport, media reports said.

"The Iraqi forces are three kilometers away from Mosul International Airport in the Southern part of the city," al-Sumeriya news channel quoted Hesameddin al-Abar as saying on Tuesday.

Al-Abar said that the Iraqi forces have managed to take control of the village of Albu Seif to the South of Mosul.

The provincial official also said that the Iraqi forces are completing their advances in areas South of Mosul, adding, "The Iraqi forces also continue their advances towards Mosul city center from the Northern flank."

Hashd Al-Sha'abi Takes Control of 3 Key Villages West of Mosul

The Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) managed to seize back three strategic villages to the West of Mosul in the first day of the third phase of their military operations, media reports said.

"The villages of al-Rakrak, Sirval and Um Hajjareh al-Olia to the West of Mosul were purged of terrorists," the Arabic-language al-Forat News quoted a statement by Hashd al-Shaabi as saying on Tuesday.

It said that the Iraqi volunteer forces have advanced 10 kilometers in the regions to the West of Mosul.

The Iraqi volunteer forces also announced that they managed to transfer 1,000 residents of Sirval village to safe places.

Hashd Al-Sha'abi Advances Further in West of Mosul

The Iraqi volunteer forces in a statement announced that Hashd al-Sha'abi continued its advances further on the second day of the third phase of the military operations in areas to the West of Mosul.

"The popular forces advanced in the villages of al-Tayenieh and Ain Salibi to the West of Mosul in fierce clashes with the ISIL terrorists," the Arabic-language al-Forat news cited a statement by Hashd al-Shaabi as saying.

On Monday, the Iraqi volunteer forces managed to seize back three strategic villages to the West of Mosul in the first day of the third phase of their military operations.

Iraqi Police Confirm Liberation of Entire Area South of Mosul City

The Iraqi Federal Police liberated the entire regions South of the ISIL-held city of Mosul from the terrorist group, the director of operations in Iraqi Federal Police confirmed on Tuesday.

Answering a question on the timing in which he believes that the Iraqi forces would be able to enter the city of Mosul, Fares Radi said that this issue depends on different factors that include the strength of ISIL positions in the city, RIA Novosti reported.

"Federal police forces managed two days ago to liberate all the sites that were set by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command under the plan which was developed for the liberation of Mosul… ISIL was defeated since the beginning of the operations in southern Mosul," Radi said.

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