Battle for Mosul Day 140:

Strategic Bridge over Euphrates Liberated

Rasa - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Monday with local media reporting that Iraqi government forces recaptured a main bridge leading to Central Mosul’s Old City as part of operations to eventually liberate the Western part of the flashpoint city from ISIL.

News ID: 427947

Date: 07 March 2017 - 00:21

RNA - The comprehensive military campaign by Iraqi military forces to liberate the Northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants continued on Monday with local media reporting that Iraqi government forces recaptured a main bridge leading to Central Mosul’s Old City as part of operations to eventually liberate the Western part of the flashpoint city from ISIL.

Iraqi Forces Capture Strategic Bridge, Get Closer to Old Mosul

Iraqi government forces took over a main bridge leading to Central Mosul’s Old City on Monday as operations to liberate the area occupied by ISIL militants continue, local media said.

Military sources told reporters that Iraqi forces had taken over al-Hurriya Bridge, one of five bridges linking both sides of Mosul across the Tigris River, Iraqi News reported.

Iraqi forces had recaptured another bridge to the South as part of the offensive which launched in February to clear Western Mosul from militants.

Iraqi Forces Recapture District, Storm Another En Route to Central Mosul

Iraqi forces recaptured a district in Western Mosul on Monday from ISIL militants and stormed another one on their way towards Central Mosul’s Old City, the security command said in a statement.

The army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces recaptured al-Sumoud district before storming the nearby al-Mansour, Lt.Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Nineveh operations, said in a statement, Iraqi News reported.

Old Mosul is a major target for the Iraqi forces seeking to clear the Western side of the city from militants. It is home of a government compound, and the recapture of which is believed to be highly decisive in ending the campaign in the government forces’ favor.

Iraq Border Guards Clash with ISIL Militants West of Anbar, Several Arrested

Commander of Iraq's Border Guards in Anbar Province announced that his forces clashed with members of the ISIL terror group, West of the province, and he added that a number of the militants were arrested during the security operation.

“A joint contingent of Iraqi Border Guards in Anbar, the command’s commando brigade and forces of Hashd al-Ashaeri raided Albu Hayat village, West of Trebil-Waleed intersection in Rutba District,310 km West of Ramadi,” Lieutenant General Ammar al-Kobessi,said in a press statement, Al Masdar reported.

“The security forces clashed with the ISIL members on the outskirts of the village, and managed to dismantle five improvised explosive devices and removed four others, which were planted in the area,” he further explained.

Iraqi Troops Gain Further Ground in Center of Mosul

Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) managed to seize control of 80% of al-Shuhadaa and al-Samoud neighbourhoods in West Mosul during a fresh push launched on Sunday.

Abdul Amir al-Sabaawi, a commander from the Iraqi Counter-terrorism Forces, told BasNews that "the counter-terrorism forces seized control of 80% of the districts of al-Shuhadaa and al-Samoud after storming them earlier in the morning."

Sabaawi said "their forces managed to gun down five suicide bombers and foil two car bombs during the incursions of the two districts."

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