Battle for Mosul Day 33:

Iraqi Forces Recapture Southern Front of Mosul, Ready to Attack City Center

Rasa - The Mosul liberation operation continued on Saturday as army continued its rapid advances inside the city, and Kurdish fighters and popular forces pushed terrorists back from more regions outside.

News ID: 425166

Date: 19 November 2016 - 20:20

RNA - Iraqi forces managed to win back full control of Mosul's Southern front today, killing over 950 ISIL terrorists.

Federal police chief General Shaker Jodat said late Friday government troops had purged 1,850 square kilometers of Mosul’s Southern front of ISIL militants and freed more than 10,000 families, the al-Sumaria news website reported.

The Iraqi soldiers destroyed 25 car bombs, 83 motorbike bombs, 92 explosive belts and some vehicles equipped with weapons and missiles during their advances in the area, Jodat added.

He further noted that police forces had confiscated 36 mortar shells containing chemicals.

Commander: Iraqi Forces Ready to Attack Mosul Center

Commander of Iraqi Counterterrorism's Golden Brigade Major General Ma'an al-Sa'adi announced that his forces are ready to attack the center of the city of Mosul after sending hundreds of families to safe places.

"The Iraqi forces have already seized back Adan, al-Bakr, Karkouli and al-Arbajieh in the Eastern part of Mosul city and are ready to launch attacks on ISIL's military positions in Mosul center," Major General al-Sa'adi told FNA on Saturday.

He said that while a large number of terrorists have withdrawn to Mosul center, many of them have also hidden inside tunnels to the East of Mosul.

The Iraqi commander pointed to the risks to people in the Eastern and Northeastern parts of Mosul due to the high possibility of face-to-face street battles with the enemies in residential areas, and said, "The Iraqi security forces are cautiously advancing in these regions to protect people's lives."

"We have rescued hundreds of families from ISIL's control and transferred them to safe places since the start of the Iraqi joint military forces' military operation," al-Sa'adi added.

Hashd Al-Shaabi Cuts Key Road Linking Tal Afar to Syria

The Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) managed to cut a strategic road that connects the city of Tal Afar to Syria.

"Hashd al-Shaabi managed to block the ISIL terrorists' escape route from Tal Afar city to Syria by the disconnecting the road," Hashd al-Shaabi Command Center announced in a statement on Saturday.

The Hashd al-Shaabi said that most of the ISIL's supply routes are also under the Iraqi forces' control now.

Spokesman: Iraqi Volunteer Forces Win Back 16 Villages West of Mosul

Iraqi Volunteer Forces Spokesman Ahmad al-Assadi announced that Hashd al-Shaabi (popular forces) have seized back vast lands just to the West of Mosul in the last five days.

"We have won back 16 villages to the West of Mosul in the first five days of the third phase of the Mosul liberation operation," the Arabic-language al-Sumeriya news channel quoted al-Assadi as saying on Saturday.

Al-Assadi voiced his satisfaction in Hashd al-Shaabi's advances in the Western flank of Mosul, and said, "During the Hashd al-Shaabi operation also thousands of Iraqi citizens have been freed from ISIL's captivity."

Iraq: Another Mass Grave Discovered near Mosul

Iraqi forces found a mass grave containing the remains of suspected victims of the ISIL executions in a village recently retaken from the Takfiri terrorists near Mosul.

A team of AFP journalists visited the site behind a small sand-covered hill outside the village of Tall ad-Dhahab about 10 km south of Mosul on Friday, the news agency said.

According to the Iraqi Lieutenant Yahya Jumma, locals believe that some 40 people may be buried at the ground.

"The majority of the victims were members of the security forces, army and police," he said, adding that "the terrorists brought them by pickup trucks".

"There were around 40 people according to eyewitnesses who saw them,” he underlined.

The visiting journalists reported meter-high mounds at the entrance to the shallow pit and an overpowering stench with bone fragments scattered around the area. They said scraps of clothing and several bullet casings could be seen at the site.

Iraqi forces have discovered a number of Daesh mass graves in the country’s liberated districts, among them the one found last week near the agricultural college of the town of Hammam al-Alil, South of Mosul.

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