Battle for Mosul Day 84:

Iraq's Special Forces Advance Further in Eastern Mosul

Rasa - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Monday as reports said Iraqi special forces made further advances against ISIL in the Northern city pushing militants out of another district a day after driving them back to the Eastern bank of the Tigris river.

News ID: 426403

Date: 09 January 2017 - 21:51

RNA - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Monday as reports said Iraqi special forces made further advances against ISIL in the Northern city pushing militants out of another district a day after driving them back to the Eastern bank of the Tigris river.

Iraq Special Forces Advance Further in Eastern Mosul

Iraqi special forces made further advances against ISIL in Mosul Monday pushing militants out of another district a day after driving them back to the Eastern bank of the Tigris river, a spokesman said.

The elite counter-terrorism forces took full control of the Baladiyat district and encircled neighboring Sukkar, said spokesman for the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, Sabah al-Numan, the Daily Star reported.

The advance also consolidated Iraqi forces' control of several districts close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, East of the river.

Iraqi Official: ISIL Controls Only 20% of Mosul’s Left Coast

A member of the Iraqi parliament said that ISIL terror group are controlling only 20% of the area located in the left coast of ​​Mosul, expecting that the upcoming battle in West of the city to be less difficult.

"The Iraqi forces are controlling to the moment, over than 75% of the left coast area," said the Nineveh Province's deputy in Iraq Parliament, Ahmed al-Jubouri, Badr News reported.

He confirmed that the rest of the areas in Southeast of the city are not densely populated area.

Iraqi Forces Kill 38 ISIL Terrorists Trying to Damage Mosul's Ancient Sites

The Iraqi forces killed tens of ISIL terrorists who intended to damage the archeological works in Western Mosul.

"At least 38 ISIL terrorists who were trying to attack the artifacts in Western Mosul were killed before they could cause any harm," the Arabic-language media quoted an unnamed military source as saying.

The Iraqi officials disclosed that there were foreign nationals among the terrorists killed in Mosul city.

Hashd al-Shaabi Expels US Soldiers from Key Mountain in Salahuddin Province

The Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) blocked the US soldiers' path to Mak'hul mountain in Northern Salahuddin and expelled them from the region once again.

The Arabic-language media reported that al-Nujaba Movement forces prevented the US army men from climbing Mak'hul mountain that is under the full control of Hashd al-Sha'abi and Iraqi security forces.

The al-Nujaba Movement noted that that the US soldiers and their armored vehicles intended to climb Mak'hul mountain but al-Nujaba forces pushed them back them from the region.

45 ISIL Terrorists Killed in Airstrikes East, West of Mosul

Airstrikes by Iraqi fighter jets killed 45 ISIL militants on Monday in Eastern and Western Mosul, the army media said.

The Iraqi defense ministry’s War Media Cell said airstrikes by Iraqi jets, carried out upon intelligence information, killed 25 militants and destroyed several pieces of weapons used by the group in six districts in Eastern Mosul, Iraqi News reported.

Iraqi government forces, backed by the allied forces and popular units, have been carrying out a major campaign since October to retake Mosul from ISIL militants who captured the city in 2014. Security officials say they currently control nearly 70 percent of the Eastern section.

Iraqi Premier: Nineveh Operation in Final Phase

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the counter-terrorism push against ISIL in the Northwestern province of Nineveh is in its final phase.

Abadi, speaking on the occasion of Iraqi Armed Forces Day, said government troops and allied volunteer forces have managed to retake about two-thirds of Nineveh Province from the ISIL terrorists, presstv reported.

The Nineveh battle is concentrated in and around its provincial capital Mosul.

Mosul, along with three towns in the Western Anbar Province, is where the remaining ISIL terrorists are holed up. The terror group captured Mosul in 2014, when it started its campaign of terror in the Northern and Western parts of Iraq.

847/940