Next stage in Mosul operations: Iraqi PM

US-led coalition airstrikes in Mosul have killed over 60 civilians and wounded over 200 more over the past few days, Russia says.

Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces made the announcement on Tuesday.

“During the past three days more than 60 civilians, including children, became victims of these air strikes. More than 200 people were wounded,” he said.

He added that Russia is closely monitoring the situation in Mosul and has so far seen no major success in the coalition’s operations to liberate the city, he added.

“At the same time there are numerous facts of the US-led coalition’s air strikes against residential quarters, schools and other civil infrastructure buildings both in Mosul and in other settlements in the Iraq’s Nineveh governorate,” he added.

"A United States Air Force plane delivered an airstrike on the al-Hajj Yunus school for girls in southern Mosul on October 21. On the following day, air strikes hit living quarters in the settlements of Qaraqosh 20 kilometers east of Mosul and Hazna 15 kilometers east of Mosul," he added.

He also stressed that Daesh militants are continuing to flee Iraq and enter Syria, adding that so far 300 Takfiri militants have entered Syria’s Dayr al-Zawr.  

Last week, the Syrian army warned of a “malicious scheme” by the US and Saudi Arabia to provide safe routes for the groupings of Takfiri terrorists, who are fleeing the offensive against the city and entering Syria, which has been dealing with a foreign-backed conflict since March 2011 -- a crisis that reportedly has claimed the lives of 400,000 people.

Mosul operations in advanced stage

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced during a press conference that Iraqi forces have reached an advanced stage in the battle for Mosul.  

“We reached an advanced stage in the battle to liberate the city of Mosul, and our plan is not to evacuate the families from the cities during the liberation operations,” he added.

He added that Iraqi forces have proved their capability to defend Iraqi towns and cities against the Takfiri militants surprise attacks.

“The international coalition is surprised by the performance of the Iraqi army in the war on Daesh, and we must continue training the security forces and restructuring them away from sectarianism,” he added.

Since the beginning of the operations, the Iraqi army, backed by volunteer forces, has been engaged in a large military offensive to cleanse Mosul of Daesh terrorists. The city fell in 2014 when the terror group started ravaging the country, naming Mosul as its so-called headquarters in Iraq.

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