Mosul update

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

CTS liberates al-Maghrib neighborhood in right bank of Mosul

April 05 2017 07:16 PM

New parts of Mosul liberated

Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) has liberated al-Maghrib neighborhood in the right bank of Mosul, a source said Wednesday.

CTS liberated Mosul's al-Maghrib neighborhood, and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings. And it is keeping a constant contiguity with the neighborhoods of al-Abar and al-Matahen in the right bank of Mosul, commander of We are coming, Nineveh' operation Gen. Abdul Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said in a statement.

Iraqi forces, aided by the international coalition are continuing its push to root the terror group of ISIS out of the city.

An operation was launched last February to liberate the right bank of the city after the terror group was expelled from the left bank months ago.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/9002/CTS-liberates-al-Maghrib-neighborhood-in-right-bank-of-Mosul

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

40 killed in airstrikes northwestern Mosul

April 05 2017 08:42 PM

Breaking

Forty civilians were killed in air strikes near Badosh, northwestern of Mosul, sources told The Baghdad Post.

Since February 19, the Iraqi army supported by the International Coalition airstrikes, has launched an offensive to oust ISIS from the right bank of Mosul, the terror group's last stronghold in Iraq.

On March 17th an airstrike killed more than 300 in Mosul Jadedeh neighborhood.

The Pentagon announced it would probe the matter.

The US Central Command announced the strikes were carried out at he request of the Iraqi security apparatus.

Intelligence sources confirmed the Iraqi army and police forces had been infiltrated by Iranian spies who always give misleading information to the coalition forces.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/9006/40-killed-in-airstrikes-northwestern-Mosul

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

16 killed in airstrikes in Mosul's right bank

April 05 2017 09:02 PM

Breaking

Sixteen civilians were killed in air strikes on al-Shaka neighborhood I Mosul's right bank, sources told The Baghdad Post on Wednesday.

We will give readers further details when available.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/9008/16-killed-in-airstrikes-in-Mosul-s-right-bank

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

Iraqi forces tell Mosul civilians to stay away from IS targets

by Mohamed Mostafa Apr 5, 2017, 9:49 am

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Displaced Iraqis wait to get food supplies as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, in western Mosul, Iraq March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army planes dropped down safety directives to Iraqi citizens at some provinces, including Mosul, telling them to stay away from Islamic State targets.

The Joint Operations Command, which leads the war against IS members in Iraq, said Wednesday its air force planes dropped down leaflets containing directives to citizens to ensure their safety during operations targeting IS locations at their respective areas.

It said a total of five million messages were dropped on Mosul as well as other IS-held areas in Nineveh, Anbar, Kirkuk and Salahuddin.

“The Iraqi Armed Forces will soon begin to invade your region, protect yourself and your family by staying at home,” read the messages. “Stay away from familiar Daesh (IS )locations such as headquarters, checkpoints, artillery positions and bunkers. Those are targets” they added.

‘The airstrikes target Daesh, not civilians,” the messages concluded.

Iraqi army forces and the allied U.S.-led coalition have faced accusations of causing occasional civilian deaths since operations launched in October to retake Mosul, IS’s largest stronghold in Iraq. The Pentagon said last month it was going to investigate reports that coalition jets killed more than 200 in western Mosul in strikes targeting IS militantsl. The Iraqi command has, however, accused IS of causing the deaths by booby-trapping civilians’ houses.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/iraqi-forces-tell-mosul-civilians-stay-away-targets/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

At least 26 killed in attacks by Islamic State in Tikrit: Iraqi security sources, medics

by Nehal Mustafa Apr 5, 2017, 10:51 am

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Tikrit (Reuters/IraqiNews.com) At least 26 people were killed, including 14 policemen, and over 40 wounded in attacks overnight by Islamic State militants in the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, Iraqi security and medical sources said on Wednesday.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry had, however, made no mention of the casualties, and declared controlling the situation after thwarting an attack by suicide bombers in Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said security troops in Salahuddin killed two suicide bombers who attempted attacking a police patrol at al-Zohour district in Tikrit.

On Tuesday, a security source told Alsumaria News that “security forces in Tikrit killed all the Islamic State militants who attacked the city.”

The source, who preferred anonymity, said the attack left several casualties, including security personnel and civilians.

In related news, local authorities in the province declared suspending work at some governmental authorities in Tikrit in the wake of the attack.

Governor Salah Eddin al-Jabouri said in a statement on Wednesday that work will be halted in Tikrit only excluding service and health facilities.

On Tuesday, the provincial council said five armed persons were there in Tikrit, adding that curfew was imposed.

Earlier on the day, the council said a police personnel was killed, as troops clashed with IS fighters, who took shelter at one of the city schools.

Iraqi troops recaptured the city in 2015, after it fell to IS in June 2014, soon after Mosul.

As many as 1,115 persons, excluding security personnel, were killed and injured due to violence in the country, in March, according to The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/least-26-killed-attacks-islamic-state-tikrit-iraqi-security-sources-medics/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

Police, PMUs say killed 60 IS militants west of Mosul

by Mohamed Mostafa Apr 5, 2017, 12:54 pm

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Smoke rises from clashes during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul, Iraq, March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police forces and allied paramilitary troops said Wednesday they killed 60 Islamic State militants, including a senior commander, in western Mosul.

Federal Police chief Shaker Jawdat said in statements his forces killed 30 Islamic State members, including the commander of its “special forces”, Abdel Qader Saleh, aka Abu Jarrah, near the fifth bridge linking the western area with the east.

He said Abu Jarrah was the leader of Jaish Dabeq (Army), an Islamic State sub-division.

Also in western Mosul, pro-Iraqi government paramilitary troops said they killed 30 other IS militants. Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units), said through their media service that troops, backed by Iraqi fighter jets, bombarded IS locations in Sallal and Kum al-Habib villages, causing the deaths and damages to combat equipment on the group’s side.

Dozens of IS militants of diverse nationalities were killed in security strikes in western Mosul over the past two days, including booby-trapping officials and children fighters recruiters.

Iraqi government forces, backed by PMUs and a U.S.-led coalition, have entered a fifth month of operations to retake Mosul from IS, recapturing the eastern side of the city in January and currently nearing the recapture of the west. Generals say they recaptured at least 50 percent of the western side.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/police-pmus-say-killed-60-is-militants-west-of-mosul/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

IS executes three prominent leaders west of Mosul

by Nehal Mustafa Apr 5, 2017, 2:10 pm

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Islamic State’s militants. File photo

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) لإاث Islamic State executed three of its prominent leaders in the west of Mosul, located 400 KM north of Baghdad, a policeman from Nineveh province said on Wednesday.

“IS killed each of Mohsen Zakariya al-Jabouri, Mete’b Attallah and Qahtan Najaf al-Shibli, in the aftermath of internal disputes among the militants,” Captain Jasem Mohamed told BasNews on Wednesday.

The victims were shot dead in Mesherfa region, west of Mosul.

Islamic State fighters, who have shown fierce resistance over the past months, weakened as operations in the east neared their end. Some reports indicate serious divisions and infighting within its ranks. Other reports had said that the group sentenced some of its fighters to death for delinquency on the battlefield.

Iraqi troops took over the eastern side of Mosul in January after 100 days of security operations and launched a new offensive to take the western region in February.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians.Retaking Mosul could ruin the Islamic State’s self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” declared in 2014 when the group occupied several parts of the country.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/executes-three-prominent-leaders-west-mosul/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

Military intelligence: 2 senior IS Arab members killed in western Mosul

by Mohamed Mostafa Apr 5, 2017, 2:42 pm

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Islamic State flag in Mosul.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Two senior Arab Islamic State members were killed in Iraqi airstrikes on western Mosul, according to a statement on Wednesday by the military intelligence service.

Iraqi fighter jets bombarded al-Haramat district in western Mosul, killing the pair, according to the statement. Those were Hashem (Abu Abdullah) Abdel-Wahab, a Saudi national in charge of IS accoةmodations in Haramat, as well as Saab Khleif, aka Abu Zoheir, a Tunisian who was the district’s military commander.

Earlier on Wednesday, Federal Police chief, Shaker Jawdat, said in statements his forces had killed 30 Islamic State members, including the commander of the group’s “special forces”, Abdel Qader Saleh, aka Abu Jarrah, near the fifth bridge linking the western area with the east.

Dozens of IS militants of diverse nationalities were killed in security strikes in western Mosul over the past two days, including booby-trapping officials and children fighters recruiters.

Iraqi government forces, backed by allied paramilitary militias and a U.S.-led coalition, have entered a fifth month of operations to retake the city of Mosul from IS, recapturing the eastern side of the city in January and currently nearing the recapture of the west. Generals say they recaptured at least 50 percent of the western side.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/military-intelligence-2-senior-arab-members-killed-western-mosul/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

Video: CTS foils suicide attack in western Mosul

by Loaa Adel Apr 5, 2017, 4:13 pm

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Counter-Terrorism forces managed to foil a suicide attack in the western side of the city of Mosul, Alsumaria News reported on Wednesday.

The Iraqi media outlet revealed that forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service were able to repulse a suicide attack, using a booby-trapped vehicle, launched by the Islamic State terrorist group on the security troops stationed in one of the neighborhoods in western Mosul.

The CTS forces also killed the driver of the booby-trapped vehicle, as well as dismantling his explosive belt, without inflicting any human or material losses on the security forces.

Iraqi security forces continue their battles against the Islamic State group, to retake the remaining occupied areas in western Mosul.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/video-cts-foils-suicide-attack-western-mosul/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

Curfew imposed in Tikrit as 70 killed, wounded in ISIS bombings

April 05 2017 09:29 PM

Breaking

A curfew has been imposed in Tikrit, Salahuddin Governorate, security sources told The Baghdad Post on Wednesday.

The sources said the curfew would take effect as of 6:00 pm till a further notice over a series of bombings and violent clashes in the city.

All entrances and exits of the city have been closed, police said.

On Tuesday evening, a string of explosive belts bombings hit Tikrit, followed by violent clashes between the joint forces and ISIS terrorists who claimed the bombings.

Death toll from the bombings and clashes jumped to 35 while 40 were injured. Most of the victims belong to the Joint forces.

Police sources confirmed to The Baghdad Post that the Joint Forces in Tikrit had called for further reinforcements.

Salahuddin governor Ahmed Jabouri announced all governmental facilities were closed over security concerns.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/9010/Curfew-imposed-in-Tikrit-as-70-killed-wounded-in-ISIS-bombings

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

Islamic State used Mosul museum as tax department

by Mohamed Mostafa Apr 5, 2017, 4:37 pm

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A painting lies on the floor at a destroyed museum in Mosul, Iraq, April 2, 2017. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Mosul (Reuters) After they seized Mosul two years ago and destroyed the priceless Mesopotamian artifacts in its museum, Islamic State militants found a practical use for the building – they turned it into a tax office.

The outside world learned of the museum’s initial fate from a video Islamic State released months later showing its fighters smashing Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Persian and Roman artifacts, many of them two millennia old or older.

They wanted to destroy any history that did not agree with their extreme version of Sunni Islam.

Iraqi troops took the museum back last month from the militants, who left its once-famous collection in a sorry state.

Remains of an Assyrian winged bull statue, some carved stone coffins, mosaics and two black blocks with Islamic calligraphy are just about all that’s left. Smaller pieces from other items litter the floor.

Government forces are still battling the militants just a few hundred meters (yards) away in the Old City, their last stronghold in Iraq, so the rubble-strewn museum is still out of reach for archaeologists to assess the damage.

Apart from soldiers stationed to guard it, a stray cat nibbling at discarded army rations seems to be the building’s only inhabitant. Machine gun fire and mortar rounds rang out from a distance as journalists made their way through the museum.

In a basement room under the main exhibition halls, there was a pile of envelopes used to issue orders to pay Islamic tax, one of main sources of funding for the militants.

“The Islamic State … seeks to levy your duties which were forced by God on the rich people’s money,” read a message on the envelope stamped with the group’s black-and-white flag.

The “Diwan Zakat”, or Islamic tax department, then left a space for names and file numbers to identify the payments.

Next to the tax receipts were green leaflets with Koran quotes, from the same department based in “Nineveh Province”, whose capital is Mosul.

SENSE OF ORDER

The video released in 2015 to show militants wielding sledgehammers to smash museum statues they regarded as idolatrous sparked a global outcry.

They also ransacked the ancient palace in the Assyrian city of Nimrud south of Mosul. The group released another video showing its fighters using bulldozers and electric drills to tear down murals and statues there.

In Palmyra in neighboring Syria, Islamic State dynamited two temples and the city’s imposing triumphal arch before it was driven out of the former tourist magnet.

Built in 1952, Mosul museum housed more than 2,000 artifacts but officials have given conflicting accounts of how many were there when the militants overran the city. Some looting had already taken place after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“The destruction is a catastrophe,” said Nabil Noureldin, a former lecturer at Mosul University who fled after Islamic State came and now lives in Turkey. “These are priceless items.”

The full extent of the destruction would only become clear when experts can verify the remains against copies of the original items stored at Baghdad’s museum, he added.

The militants searched the building methodically for valuables, even breaking up the ground floor in their search for vaults with artifacts inside that they could sell, according to Federal Police officers.

Apart from taxes, oil sales, antiquities smuggling and ransom from kidnappings were also sources of income for Islamic State.

In July 2015, U.S. authorities handed Iraq a hoard of antiquities it said it had seized from Islamic State in Syria.

Excavations under an ancient mosque elsewhere in Mosul, recently discovered after the militants retreated, showed that they had preserved its artifacts for possible smuggling abroad.

In the museum, the militants left behind many trivial items that should have been just as repugnant to their strict Islamist ideology as the priceless statues they destroyed.

There were cards describing main museum artifacts in English and Arabic, postcards from the souvenir shop showing a princess’s skull and dusty books about Iraq’s contribution to Arab history.

There was also a pamphlet for an “international festival” on April 14, 1994, a time when the late strongman Saddam Hussein still in power and Iraq was cut off from the world under U.N. embargo.

http://www.iraqinews.com/features/islamic-state-used-mosul-museum-tax-department/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

PMUs liberate Beyoot al-Teen village, western Badush, kill 5 IS militants

by Nehal Mustafa Apr 5, 2017, 5:33 pm

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Al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Paramilitary troops have declared killing five Islamic State militants on Wednesday during clashes that occurred in Beyoot al-Teen, west of Badush village, located western Mosul.

In a statement, al-Hashd al-Shaabi troops (Public Mobilization Units) said the troops were able to kill five IS members “during direct confrontations in Beyoot al-Teen village, west of Badush.”

The statement also announced liberating the village, which is adjacent to Al-Sabouniya in the west of Mosul.

Iraqi government forces, along with PMUs and a U.S.-led coalition, have entered a fifth month of operations to drive IS out of western Mosul. Eastern Mosul was recaptured from IS in January, after a US-backed offensive was launched in October. Generals say they recaptured at least 50 percent of the western side.

Battles in the west are believed to be much more difficult due to the density of residential areas and the high number of civilians

Retaking Mosul could ruin the Islamic State’s self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” declared in 2014 when the group occupied several parts of the country.

The troops are considered one of the largest militias in Iraq. It was established in 2014 by a fatwa (religious edict) to fight IS.

In late 2016, the Iraqi parliament recognized the militia as a national armed force

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/pmus-liberate-beyoot-al-teen-village-western-badush-kill-5-militants/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

CTS liberates Maghreb neighborhood in western Mosul

by Loaa Adel Apr 5, 2017, 8:00 pm

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Counter-Terrorism Forces. File Photo.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) ‘We Are Coming, Nineveh’ Operations Command, on Wednesday, announced that Counter-Terrorism forces liberated al-Maghreb neighborhood, in western Mosul, and raised Iraqi flag over its buildings.

Commander of operation, Major General Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a press statement that forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service liberated al-Maghreb neighborhood, and raised Iraqi flag over its buildings.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces are going through fierce battles to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State terrorist group, after the announcement of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to start an offensive, in 19 February 2017, to retake the western side of the city.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/cts-liberates-maghreb-neighborhood-western-mosul/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

A Peshmerga brigade of Turkmens to be established

by Loaa Adel Apr 5, 2017, 7:50 pm

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Peshmerga soldiers.

Erbil (BasNews) A Kurdish MP stated that a brigade of Turkmens will be created within the Peshmerga forces, saying that Peshmerga needs to be composed of all Kurdistan Region entities as it does not belong to Kurds alone.

Shakhawan Abdullah, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament, told BasNews a Peshmerga brigade from Turkmens will be established, noting that Peshmerga should contain all components of the Kurdistan Region, given the fact that Peshmerga does not only belong to Kurds.

He stated that a Peshmerga brigade consisting entirely of Arabs who have recently concluded their training will soon begin to operate within the Peshmerga forces.

The financial crisis in the Kurdistan Region has been a barrier to the creation of a Peshmerga unit for Turkmens otherwise this would have happened a long time ago, said the official. He noted that the Peshmerga brigade for Turkmens will be created in the near future.

He added that multi-ethnic components within Peshmerga shows the force is not against any entity and equally protects all of them.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/peshmerga-brigade-turkmens-established/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

IS leaders start to flee Mosul and abandon foreign fighters: Asa’ib

by Loaa Adel Apr 5, 2017, 6:21 pm

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Spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq Jawad Telbawi. File photo.

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (League of Righteous People) movement declared, on Wednesday, that leaders of the Islamic State group started to flee the city of Mosul, and abandoned the foreign fighters.

Military Spokesman for the movement, Jawad al-Talibawi, said in a press statement that the leaders of the Islamic State terrorist group started to escape from the city of Mosul, and abandoned the foreign fighters who are facing vague future.

However, a number of the Islamic State foreign fighters surrendered to security forces in the last few days, Talibawi added.

Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq is an Iraqi Shi’a paramilitary group, and is currently fighting against the Islamic State terrorist group as part of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces).

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces are going through fierce battles to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State terrorist group, after the announcement of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to start an offensive, in 19 February 2017, to retake the western side of the city.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/leaders-start-flee-mosul-abandon-foreign-fighters-asaib/

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

After Mosul, we will retake Kirkuk, Sinjar and Tal Afar from ISIS: US General

By

Paul Antonopoulos

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05/04/2017

1

ISIS-propaganda-pic-from-Mosul-696x391.j

BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:15 A.M.) – General Joe Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps, said that after Mosul is liberated from ISIS, Tal Afar, Kirkuk countryside and the Sinjar region will be the next areas of focus.

“It is not our judgment that the Iraqis will be self-sustaining and self-sufficient in the wake of Mosul,” Dunford said.

“More important, it is not Prime Minister Abadi’s assessment. He believes he will need continued U.S. support in Iraq post-Mosul,” he continued.

“The enemy is still in Tal Afar to the west of Mosul, as well as in Kirkuk and in the Euphrates River valley near Qaim. These are the three major areas of concern once Mosul is liberated,” Dunford explained.

“Mosul is important, but it is not the end of the campaign against the terror group. ISIS still continues to launch terror attacks in Baghdad and in other cities,” he noted.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/mosul-will-retake-kirkuk-sinjar-tal-afar-isis-us-general/

Edited April 5, 2017 by tigergorzow

tigergorzow · April 5, 2017

In Video: Moment ISIS bomber blew up his VBIED in west Mosul

By

Zen Adra

-

04/04/2017

0

The dramatic moment an ISIS suicide bomber detonated his VBIED was brilliantly captured by two fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units.

The suicide attack – which took place in Autumn 2016 – was meant to target a unit of Iraqi fighters embedded in the military operation against the Islamic State in west Mosul.

Even though no Iraqi soldiers were reported killed in the attack, but the intensity of the explosion has left many of them wounded.