Battle for Mosul Day 56:

Nine Villages Liberated from ISIL West of Mosul

Rasa - The comprehensive military campaign to liberate the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul continued on Monday with the Iraqi forces liberating several villages near Mosul from the grip of the ISIL terrorist group as part of larger operations to fully recapture the Northern city.

News ID: 425743

Date: 12 December 2016 - 22:38

RNA - The comprehensive military campaign to liberate the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul continued on Monday with the Iraqi forces liberating several villages near Mosul from the grip of the ISIL terrorist group as part of larger operations to fully recapture the Northern city.

Iraqi Forces Take Nine Villages from ISIL West of Mosul

Iraqi forces managed to liberate several villages near Mosul from the grip of the ISIL terrorist group as part of larger operations to fully recapture the Northern city.

The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said Popular Mobilization Units, known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, purged six villages, West of the city, of ISIL terrorists, Shafaq News reported.

The Iraqi general added that ISIL terrorists lost the villages of Hazimiyah al-Janubiyah, Moshayrfat al-Jisr, Zaid al-Mos’ab, Yassin al-Halbous, Tal Maidan Qoly and al-Bota al-Gharbiyah.

Some 450 families were also evacuated from Yassin al-Halbous village, west of Tal Abta district.

ISIL Executes More People in Iraq

ISIL executed 17 people, mostly youths, in al-Hawija region in Kirkuk province on Monday morning over accusations of cooperating with security forces and mutiny against the terrorist group.

The ISIL group took 17 people out of their residences in the early hours of Monday before executing them by a fire squad inside al-Bokareh airbase near Hawija around 55 kilometers Southwestward in Kirkuk province.

Meantime, a security source disclosed that a large number of civilians, including women and children, have escaped from the ISIL and approached Peshmerga forces.

The people had fled the ISIL-controlled al-Makhous, al-Madina and al-Akouleh regions to reach Maktab Khaled that is under the rule of the Peshmerga forces.

The ISIL had captured the the town of Hawija in June 2014.

Iraqi Commander: Liberation of Tal Abta's Suburbs Prelude to Areas Bordering Syria

A senior commander of the Iraqi volunteer forces underlined that regaining control over the strategic Tal Abta region and its surrounding areas will pave the way for retaking control of the areas located along the Iraq-Syria border.

"Recapturing Tal Abta will be followed by seizing back al-Ba'aj and al-Qirvan regions and later taking full control of the border areas in Iraq along the Syrian border," Senior Hashd al-Shaabi Commander Mohammad Al-Basri said on Monday.

Al-Basri reiterated that the Iraqi volunteer forces are fully prepared to take control of the suburban areas of Tal Abta in the Western flank of the city of Mosul, and said, "The most important goal pursued through liberating the regions bordering Syria is to fully cut off the supply and rescue routes to the Southern and Western flanks of Mosul."

The Hashd al-Shaabi commander, meantime, pointed to the military operations to recapture Tal Afar West of Mosul, and said, "The Iraqi volunteer forces have prepared themselves for carrying out these operations; we have thorough information about the moves made by the ISIL to prevent our forces from making advances towards the center of Tal Afar."

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