Nearly 3 years after Da'ish took the city... #Iraq's flag has been raised above #Mosul's government buildings

[King Bean]

Foot on the gas, troops. Push them out into the open and show no mercy. Nobody left standing that will come back later and take more innocent lives. Then find al Baghdadi and string him up next to al Maliki, for the vultures.

[tigergorzow]

Operations to retake Badush in eastern Mosul launched

March 07 2017 01:02 PM

Breaking

The Iraqi Army's Nineth Armored Division has launched an offensive on Tuesday to retake Badush neighborhood in eastern Mosul from ISIS terrorists.

The operation comes after the Iraqi forces successfully recaptured Badush prison located on Mosul-Tal Afar road.

On the wake of advancement of Iraq forces in Mosul Most of ISIS leaders' families have escaped Badush area into al-Kask district and nearby farms in northwestern Mosul, a source told Baghdad Post.

The remaining local ISIS militants stayed in Badush, the source asserted.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7835/Operations-to-retake-Badush-in-eastern-Mosul-launched

[tigergorzow]

Al-Dawasa clashes inflict massive destruction on Mosul streets

March 07 2017 03:34 PM

destruction in Mosul

Exclusive pictures that showed a massive destruction in al-Dawasa district in the right bank of Mosul were obtained by The Baghdad Post.

 

Fierce clashes have been reported on Monday as Iraqi security forces pushed deep into al-Dawasa district in the right bank of Mosul to capture the old governmental complex and the premises of Nineveh City Hall.



 

Iraqi security forces advance comes under aerial converge by warplanes of US-led coalition.

 

Commander of the Iraqi Federal Police Lt General Raed Shaker Jawdat on Monday said the Iraqi police troops resumed their battles against ISIS strongholds in al-Dawasa and Nabi Sheet districts in the right bank of Mosul.

 

Fierce battles have been going on between the Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants to retake the main government complex and Nineveh City Hall.

The Iraqi Federal Police and Rapid Intervention Forces announced early Tuesday their full control over Mosul governmental complex, the City Hall, the cultural museum and water directorate.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7841/Al-Dawasa-clashes-inflict-massive-destruction-on-Mosul-streets

[tigergorzow]

Put an end to IMIS: Their existence in post-ISIS era to lead to civil war

March 07 2017 04:30 PM

 

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7847/Put-an-end-to-IMIS-Their-existence-in-post-ISIS-era-to-lead-to-civil-war

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi security forces kill 4 suicide bombers in Mosul's right bank

March 07 2017 04:44 PM

Nejm al-Jabouri

Iraqi security forces on Tuesday killed four ISIS terrorists and destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle in the right bank of Mosul, commander of Nineveh military operations  Najm al-Jabouri said.

Security units foiled a suicide attack by ISIS terrorists that targeted a police directorate in al-Dandan neighborhood before they blew up themselves, al-Jabouri added.

Military operations will continue to liberate the right bank of Mosul city, he added.

On February 19th, the Iraqi Army launched a massive operation to retake Mosul city which has been under the control of the terrorist group since June 2014.  

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7849/Iraqi-security-forces-kill-4-suicide-bombers-in-Mosul-s-right-bank

[tigergorzow]

Mosul residents with ISIS birth certificates need a do-over: LATimes

March 07 2017 03:56 PM

.

Los Angeles Times

 

In the eyes of the Iraqi government, Najaah, a 4-month-old infant being rocked to sleep by her mother, does not exist, Los Angeles Times reported.

Neither does the 2-year-old son of laborer Akram Taha. And dozens of couples standing near them are not legally married.

All of them were lined up in the drab beige hallways of a courthouse in this town outside Mosul last week, hoping to remedy a bureaucratic nightmare: Their birth and marriage certificates were issued by ISIS militant group and carry no legal weight in Iraq.

When ISIS was ousted from Mosul’s eastern half, tens of thousands of Muslawis, as Mosul residents are known, were left to reintegrate into an Iraqi bureaucracy that was supplanted by the extremists during their nearly three-year reign in the country’s second-largest city.

ISIS maintains a grip on western Mosul, and security remains shaky in the eastern side of the city, which is divided by the Tigris River. The militants regularly dispatch grenade-dropping drones as well as suicide bombers. The shaky security situation has forced the government to open up a subsidiary of Mosul’s court system here in Hamdaniya, approximately 20 miles southeast of Mosul.

People come by the hundreds to this once elegant town, which, like Mosul’s eastern half, was only recently recaptured from ISIS. They walk past devastated neighborhoods, forming a shambolic line as they squeeze through a pre-fabricated hut for a quick security check, then pass into the courthouse to start another step in the process of repairing lives long disrupted by ISIS.

“We have plans to relocate to the presidential palace on the eastern side, but only when the security is up to the level we need,” said Judge Salem Mohammad Nouri, head of Mosul’s appeals court, in an interview in the third floor office of the court building.

ISIS is alternatively known as ISIS, ISIL and its Arabic acronym Daesh.

Nouri’s office was large and complete with the traditional accouterments of high governmental officials in Iraq: plastic flowers, a fake Faberge egg and gilt-edged furniture. Still, he seemed almost embarrassed by the paucity of his surroundings, insisting that the court’s presence here was temporary.

He spoke wistfully of Mosul’s main courthouse, built in the 1950s on the city’s western bank. The militants, he said, blew it up a few weeks ago.

Mosul's various courts operate out of tiny rooms the size of broom closets. Electricity is provided by generators paid for out of the judges' salaries, and all face a tremendous backlog of cases and claims.

When ISIS seized Mosul in mid-2014, it quickly took over the government’s bureaucracy.

“We always had to have [ISIS] documents with us,” said Shaybaan Saadi, a former government employee waiting in the drab beige hallways of the Hamdaniya courthouse. “You even had to put lslamic State license plates on the car.”

The group issued marriage licenses, birth certificates, traffic tickets, leasing contracts — all part of an effort to show it was no longer an insurgency but a fully functioning state.

One effect of its exit means that couples married in the last three years in Mosul have to re-register their marriages.

“A Daesh contract is considered null, yes, but a marriage, even if it’s done by Daesh, is still a marriage,” said Nouri.

On a typical day last week, dozens of couples jostled in front of the door of a tiny office. When each couple’s turn came, they would walk in to stand before the judge. He would ask if each partner had married of his or her free will — a key detail, given reports of forced marriages under ISIS. Two witnesses were needed to testify that the marriage was legal.

On the opposite end of the corridor, the infant Najaah’s mother, Marwa, leaned against the wall. Like several others interviewed, she refused to give her last name for fear of reprisals.

She was waiting to obtain a government-issued birth certificate that would allow her to add Najaah to the family’s ration card, which she could then use to purchase goods at a subsidized price.

Yet cases like these, said Judge Motaz Azem Mohammad, a boyish looking 40-year-old, were the easy ones.

“New marriages and new babies, this is not the issue. Our biggest problem is the loss of existing records, ” he said, as he fiddled with the controls of a space heater near his desk.

With the records destroyed in the wake of ISIS stunning takeover of Mosul in mid-2014, the judges must assess the validity of contracts said to have been forged in the period before.

The court is also tasked with investigating claims of damage to property, as well as crimes, terrorism-related or otherwise, a challenging prospect in Mosul and its environs, which have been ravaged by three years of war.

The search for justice can be frustrating.

With the state’s coffers all but empty (a result of endemic corruption and deflated oil revenues), there is little hope of compensation for property loss.

And while the courts have agreed to investigate complaints of killings, including those by bombing or assassination, the search for culprits is difficult at best. The courts have been plagued by people making false accusations to exact revenge against rivals. And with two witnesses required to obtain an arrest warrant, it has been difficult to build cases even when the accusation is legitimate.

“People don’t have enough to eat these days. You can’t force someone to leave their job and come testify against someone else,” said criminal court Judge Mahdi Saleh.

Another problem, Saleh said, is that the system is overburdened, making something as simple as transporting a prisoner to trial a major logistical endeavor.

“We have a terrorism case, and the accused is in jail… but we don’t know where,” he said.

Finally, the work is dangerous. A judge who would give only his first name, Ibrahim, because of fear of reprisals, said that even before 2014, he was a target of death threats and multiple assassination attempts.

Even when all of Mosul is taken back from ISIS, Ibrahim said, sleeper cells loyal to the extremist group will remain, and can be expected to undertake a wave of assassinations against the judiciary.

“Now, while we’re here, it’s OK,” he said, “but soon it will go back to how it was.”

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7845/Mosul-residents-with-ISIS-birth-certificates-need-a-do-over-LATimes

[tigergorzow]

Put an end to IMIS: Militias post-ISIS existence to lead to civil war

March 07 2017 06:31 PM

IMIS militants in Iraq

Al-Hashd Shiite militias (IMIS) was formed under the pretext of fighting ISIS terrorist group. But now, Iraqi politicians have to recognize that IMIS is threatening Iraq.

IMIS existence after ISIS end threatens Iraq's unity and stability, experts told The Baghdad Post on Tuesday.

They added that IMIS is Iran's military arm in Iraq that was formed to control Iraq then is planned to control its neighboring countries. IMIS is considered another form of  IRGC that is under the authority of Tehran, the experts underlined.

They also said that there is no reason for IMIS to exist after eliminating ISIS, adding that the only reason will be to implement the Iranian agenda that aims to divide Iraqi territories into several regions.

In the meantime, the experts added that IMIS existence threatens the Iraqi army and the state itself in which it is competing with the Iraqi federal army and will fight it sooner or later.

The Iraqi government must put an end to IMIS and dismantle its militias and order its militants to return to their homes after handing over their weapons.

IMIS aims to establish independent regions

A number of political parties are working on forming new coalitions and also call for establishing independent regions.

In recent statements, member of Saladin provincial council said that the priorities of the post-ISIS era will change from military to political, pointing out that the political battle between the parties has already started six months ago over how to rule the upcoming period.

The political parties are now divided into two; First: Those who urge to let the liberated areas as they were before ISIS, Second: Those who urge to change the liberated areas' situation at the provincial or central ruling level, he added.

He also pointed out that there are various armies in Iraq now including the federal army, IMIS, Tribal Militias, National Militias and Peshmerga. He added that the militias will not be needed anymore after ISIS defeat. He also pointed out that these armies are expected to fight each other if the state did not strictly deal with them via disarming their militants.

Meanwhile, Abdullah Ibrahim, leader of the National Militias, said that Peshmerga has intensified its forces in a number of areas in Mosul city and announced that it will add these areas to Iraqi Kurdistan Region while IMIS had controlled other areas in the left bank of the Mosul city and refused to withdraw from it.

Ibrahim asserted that this will lead to an armed conflict between the two parties as well as with the Iraqi federal forces in the upcoming period in Mosul and that this clashes may extend to other areas in Iraq.

Meanwhile, clashes are erupting between Peshmerga and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Christian Militias affiliated to IMIS in Sinjar, Ibrahim said, adding that the Christian Militias became a puppet in the hands of IMIS that aims to implement Iran's plots in Mosul city.

Finally, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi  must limit IMIS and dismantle its militias in the upcoming period or else they will threaten him, his family and the whole country.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7853/Put-an-end-to-IMIS-Militias-post-ISIS-existence-to-lead-to-civil-war

[tigergorzow]

IMIS existence in post-ISIS era to lead to civil war

March 07 2017 08:26 PM

 

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7858/IMIS-existence-in-post-ISIS-era-to-lead-to-civil-war

[tigergorzow]

Sons carry their parents to escape right bank of Mosul's hell

March 07 2017 03:42 PM

Sons had to carry their disabled parents to escape the ongoing fights in Mosul

 

Horror and death is the main theme on tales of the fleeing Iraqi citizens from the right bank of Mosul before reaching safety in the displacement camps in southern Mosul carrying their old disabled parents.

The fleeing citizens from the ongoing fights are in their worst ever appearance due to the terror imposed on them by ISIS militants. Air bombardment and violent clashes that have continued for several days in the embattled city forced them to flee their homes with teared and filthy clothes.

The displaced also suffer from famine as new comers to the displacement camps described.

Some of them said that they have not eaten for days because of the insufficiency of baby milk, food, water and medical care.

During their besiege in the right bank of Mosul, Iraqis have not left any substance without cooking it after the running out of food supplies.
 

A citizen described searching for grasses that do not have bitter taste to feed it to his children so that they don't starve to death.
 

Others said that people rushed to bombarded sites by US-led Coalition jets to collect ISIS militants' leftover food, risking their lives in the process.

ISIS terrorists also left their deceased militants bodies in the streets as they retreated from the city's neighborhoods, increasing fears over spread of deadly diseases in the city.

"Daesh has not left anything for us; I had to escape carrying my mother on my back. We walked for a long time, looking for a shelter. What is happening in Mosul is a genocide, there is no life there," a displaced citizen said.

UNESCO reported that the numbers of displaced citizens from Mosul from the beginning of the operations in last October have reached 200,000 citizens; it noted that tents in the displacement camp are overcrowded.

Food and fuel supplies are running out rapidly in Mosul due to shops and markets closing, water supplies are now scarce and electricity is out in most of the city's areas, the UNESCO added.

Iraqi security force launched in last October an offensive to retake Mosul the last stronghold of ISIS in Iraqi.

Security forces have successfully controlled the eastern parts of Mosul and began an offensive on the western part of the city to oust the last remnants of the terrorist group.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7843/Sons-carry-their-parents-to-escape-right-bank-of-Mosul-s-hell

[bigwave]

Riches country in the World....

So Sad

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi Army liberates Turkish consulate whilst continuing its impressive drive against ISIS in Mosul

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

07/03/2017

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:47 A.M.) – The Iraqi Army, alongside the Federal Police, continued their wide-scale offensive in Nineveh Governorate’s capital on Tuesday, liberating new territory from the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists present inside of Mosul.

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, one of the sites liberated by the Iraqi Armed Forces this morning was the Mosul Government Complex, which is considered one of the Islamic State’s most important installations inside of the city.

The Mosul Government Complex comprises of the National Insurance Company, Statistics building, the Central Bank of Iraq and the Archeological Museum, with Al-Masdar News reporting their liberation earlier today.

 

The consulate is located at Dur Al-Dhubat Caddesi next to Al-Shekban Mosque in western Mosul.

When ISIS captured Mosul in June 2014 it seized the Turkish consulate, holding 46 Turks and three Iraqis, hostage, with all the hostages being released in September 2014, Rudaw explained.

In addition to these gains, the Iraqi forces have continued their push into the Old Center of Mosul by liberating what was formerly the Turkish Consulate in Mosul.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraqi-army-liberates-turkish-consulate-whilst-continuing-its-impressive-drive-against-isis-in-mosul/

[tigergorzow]

ISIS assault against the PMU near Mosul spectacularly fails

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

07/03/2017

 

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:21 P.M.) – The predominately Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Units has repelled a powerful ISIS assault in southern Ninevah province.

The assault was launched against the village of Hatra, to the south of Mosul.

The resulting attack led to over 20 of the terrorist being exterminated by the PMU.

Despite dozens of ISIS terrorists throwing themselves at the attack, they were not able to penetrate through PMU lines.

Several suicide bombers had their vehicles destroyed before they could reach their targets, and thus were not able to weaken PMU defensive positions.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-assault-pmu-near-mosul-spectacularly-fails/

Edited March 7, 2017 by tigergorzow

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi forces liberate key government buildings, archeological museum from ISIS in Mosul

By

Paul Antonopoulos

-

07/03/2017

Iraqi security forces have made a key advancement in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and last major ISIS stronghold in the country, an Iraqi spokesman revealed.

The National Insurance Company, Statistics building, the Central Bank of Iraq and the Archeological Museum were all liberated in operations that began last night against ISIS.

Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammadawi, a spokesman for the elite interior ministry Rapid Response units told Reuters that the museum was heavily damaged and looted by ISIS.

“They killed tens from Daesh [ISIS],” he said.

The liberation of these key sites allows the Iraqi forces to now penetrate into the nearby old city center of Mosul.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraqi-forces-liberate-key-government-buildings-archeological-museum-isis-mosul/

[tigergorzow]

Situation hopeless for ISIS as the Iraqi Army liberates 80% of Mosul

By

Chris Tomson

-

07/03/2017

 

Despite encountering a steady flow of ISIS suicide bombers, the Iraqi Armed Forces are gradually retaking Iraq’s second largest city amid heavy urban warfare.

On Monday, the Iraqi Army’s Rapid Response Units captured the water and sewage department in the Al-Danadan neighborhood along with its power station. These sites are located near the recently liberated Hurriya bridge at the Tigris River.

 Nearby, the Iraqi Federal Police liberated the famed Mosul Museum, the Courts Complex and Police Department amid steady progress in the central Dawasa and Mansour districts.

During clashes in western Mosul, Iraqi troops also captured a Russian ISIS fighter:

Meanwhile, ISIS stiffened its fortifications around the impregnable government buildings that now serve as the last defensible line in western Mosul.

With 80% of the city under government control, ISIS’ forces in Mosul are expected to collapse completely once they lose the battle for the central government buildings.

For the latest map of Mosul, click here.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/situation-hopeless-isis-iraqi-army-liberates-80-mosul/

[tigergorzow]

Graphic photos: ISIS chops off hands in Iraq amid strict Sharia crackdown

By

Chris Tomson

-

07/03/2017

 

On Monday, Amaq Agency published seven pictures showing Islamic State enforcers cutting off the hand of an alleged thief in Iraq’s northern Nineveh governorate.

With ISIS gradually losing the battle for Mosul, jihadist militants are depending on strict religious laws to keep the local population in line.

Photos of the incident can be seen below – viewer discretion is advised:

 

Chris Tomson | Al-Masdar News

 

Chris Tomson | Al-Masdar News

Chris Tomson | Al-Masdar News

Chris Tomson | Al-Masdar News

Chris Tomson | Al-Masdar News

Chris Tomson | Al-Masdar News

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/graphic-photos-isis-chops-off-hands-iraq-amid-strict-sharia-crackdown/

[Freedomwish]

44 minutes ago, bigwave said:

Richest country in the World....

So Sad

Yeah......it's terrible.....one does have to be realistic and looking through those photos, it's going to be a very long over before the RV will happen...sorry if I'm suddenly being negative, these stories puts things into perspective - it's going to be a very long while until this mess gets cleaned up and those innocent people are free from all of that horror.

[tigergorzow]

Security forces kill ISIS top military commander in Mosul

March 07 2017 09:59 PM

ISIS leader killed in Mosul

Security forces on Tuesday killed ISIS top military commander in Mosul right bank.

The Military Intelligence Directorate said in a statement, "A terrorist called Ahmed Obaid Nkil Al-Memari aka Abu Omar, the military commander of ISIS operations of right bank was killed."

He was responsible for the executions carried out during the clashes took place in Al-Dawasa neighborhood, it added.

Government forces freed Al-Dawasa neighborhood and the government complex on Mosul right bank.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced the launch of military operations to retake west Mosul from ISIS terror group on February 19, four months into a massive offensive on the city.

"We announce the start of a new phase in the operation, we are coming Nineveh to liberate the western side of Mosul," Abadi said in a brief televised speech, referring to the province of which Mosul is the capital.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7861/Security-forces-kill-ISIS-top-military-commander-in-Mosul

[tigergorzow]

Iran admits 2100 militiamen killed in Iraq, Syria

March 07 2017 09:29 PM

Iran incurs huge losses in Iraq, Syria

Iranian regime admitted 2100 of its militiamen have been killed in the ongoing battles in Iraq and Syria.

About 2100 Iranian military personnel have been killed in Iraq, Syria and other parts, news agencies quoted Mohammad Ali Shahidi Mahallati, head of War Veteran and Martyrs Institution, on Tuesday as saying.

Those people were killed in defense of the holy shrines in Iraq and Syria, he claimed, providing no specific information about the period in which those militiamen were killed.

Iran deployed thousands of its militias in Syria to support Bashar Al-Assad in its ruthless war on the Syrian people who have been demanding its ouster since 2011.

Militias from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Lebanon are fighting side by side with the Iranian militias.

Iranian media platforms speak about many deaths in the ranks of the Iranian militants. Both rank and file fighters and senior advisor face the same fate on the battlefield in Syria.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/7860/Iran-admits-2100-militiamen-killed-in-Iraq-Syria

[tigergorzow]

Iraqi Forces Retake Several Government Buildings in West Mosul

Mira Rojkan

08/03/2017 - 00:11

Iraq

 

MOSUL — Iraqi forces liberated a police department, a court building and a municipality building in the western part of Mosul, the spokesperson for the Nineveh Volunteers, Mahmud al-Surdji said on Tuesday.

Surdji, who spoke to Sputnik on Tuesday, said that the Iraqi forces have managed to recapture al-Hurriya bridge, a strategically important point, which was under the Islamic State (IS) control since 2014.

According to his statement, the IS extremists suffered heavy losses. However, he further explained that the new strategic positions will accelerate further advancement of the Iraqi army in western Mosul.

In addition, Sputnik reported that the Iraqi forces have also liberated the Turkish consulate located in the western parts of the city of Mosul, which was under IS-control since June 2014.

The Iraqi forces, supported by the US-led coalition, continue to advance against the IS militants in Iraq, and were able to recapture more territories and are conducting further military offensives.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/335002

[tigergorzow]

 

 

 

 

Mosul Eye عين الموصل‏ @MosulEye 2h2 hours ago

 

Update: Mosul Operation / West Bank Green = Liberated Black = ISIL Control Red = active battles (clashes)

7/3/2017 – 9:00 PM pic.twitter.com/p4ZT0Clhce

https://twitter.com/MosulEye?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

[tigergorzow]

 

 

 

Mosul Eye عين الموصل‏ @MosulEye 2h2 hours ago

 

Update: Mosul Operation / West Bank Green = Liberated Black = ISIL Control Red = active battles (clashes) 7/3/2017 – 9:00 PM

pic.twitter.com/p4ZT0Clhce

https://twitter.com/MosulEye?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

[CaptainBVI]

Tiger,

You've been a busy boy keeping us up to date.

Thank you for your efforts.

[tigergorzow]

Biblical king's palace uncovered beneath shrine destroyed by ISIS

By James Rogers

Published March 06, 2017

FoxNews.com

 

 

The remains of the Tomb of Prophet Yunus, destroyed by Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, January 28, 2017. (REUTERS/Azad Lashkari)

Archaeologists in Mosul have made a stunning find beneath the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah that was destroyed by Islamic State militants in 2014: the long-hidden palace of ancient Assyrian King Sennacherib.

Experts were documenting the jihadists’ destruction of the tomb’s ruins when they located the palace, which dates back to 600 B.C. ISIS had dug tunnels into the site in a search for ancient artifacts to plunder, according to media reports.

The Telegraph reports that Iraqi archaeologist Layla Salih found a marble cuneiform inscription of Assyrian King Esarhaddon inside one of the tunnels. The inscription is believed to date to 672 B.C. when the palace was part of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.

 

 

One of the earliest forms of writing, cuneiform harnesses wedge-shaped marks and was widely used in ancient Mesopotamian civilizations.

The palace was built for the Assyrian King Sennarcherib, expanded by his son Esarhaddon, and renovated by his grandson King Ashurbanipal, according to the Telegraph, which notes that the palace was partly destroyed during the sack of Nineveh in 612 B.C. Sennacherib’s invasion of the ancient kingdom of Judah is extensively documented in the Bible. Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal are also mentioned in scripture, although feature less prominently.

Elsewhere in the tunnel, archaeologists found ancient Assyrian stone sculptures of a demi-goddess, the Telegraph reports.

 

The Tomb of Jonah, or Nebi Yunus in Arabic, is located on a hill in Eastern Mosul. The site was recaptured from ISIS by the Iraqi army last month during its Mosul offensive.

Expand / Contract

The remains of the Tomb of Prophet Yunus, destroyed by Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2017. (REUTERS/Azad Lashkari)

Jonah is revered in Christian, Muslim, and Jewish traditions. The Prophet’s tomb, which was located within a Sunni mosque, was destroyed by ISIS militants in July 2014.

Dr. Paul Collins, Chair of The British Institute for the Study of Iraq, which is working with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and UNESCO to protect Iraq’s cultural heritage, told Fox News that there could be more damage at the site. “The tunnels, probably dug for looting, are in imminent danger of collapse,” he explained, via email. “If this happens the result will be even more destruction at a site that had already been devastated by the explosions that destroyed the ancient Shrine of Jonah - in effect we will lose a place where Iraq's ancient, medieval and modern cultural heritage rests one above the other.”

 

Archaeologists have been aware since the nineteenth century that ancient Assyrian royal buildings are beneath the shrine, according to Collins, who notes that inscriptions and a relief from a dig in the 1870s are now in the British Museum. “Iraqi excavations in the 1950s revealed an entrance to an Assyrian royal arsenal and in 1990 a large Assyrian building to the east of the mosque guarded by colossal human-headed winged bulls was excavated, but this work came to an end with the Iraq/Kuwait war,” he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2017/03/06/biblical-kings-palace-uncovered-beneath-shrine-destroyed-by-isis.html

[tigergorzow]

3 minutes ago, CaptainBVI said:

Tiger,

You've been a busy boy keeping us up to date.

Thank you for your efforts.

CaptainBVI,  My pleasure and loving every minute of it in hopes that soon this will be all over.....Post RV is looking good IMHO....

[boosterbglee]

Thanks Tiger for your ongoing dedication to bring us the latest!