News / Iraq

Daesh trapped in Mosul as last road retaken by Iraqi army: US official

Sunday, 12 March 2017 5:06 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 12 March 2017 5:47 PM ]

Iraqi forces prepare to fire artillery towards the positions of the Daesh Takfiri militants in western Mosul on March 11, 2017 as the ongoing battle to retake the city from the terror group continues. (Photo by AFP)

A high-ranking US military figure says the Daesh Takfiri militants are trapped inside Mosul as Iraqi army forces, supported by pro-government forces from Popular Mobilization Units, have regained control of the only road out of the city.

Daesh “is trapped. Just last night, the 9th Iraqi Army Division, up near Badush, just northwest of Mosul, cut off the last road out of Mosul," Brett H. McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the so-called Global Coalition to Counter Daesh at the US Department of State, told journalists in Baghdad on Sunday.

“Any of the fighters who are left in Mosul, they're going to die there, because they're trapped,” he said.

The remarks came on the same day that the commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said soldiers from the 16th Infantry Division had wrested complete control of the Darnajoukh village east of Badush, and raised the national flag over a number of buildings there, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

The prominent Iraqi military commander added that Iraqi troopers also inflicted heavy losses on Daesh ranks during the operation and destroyed a considerable amount of their munitions.

Moreover, fighters from Popular Mobilization Units – commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi – won back the village of Sabih west of Mosul following intense clashes with Daesh Takfiris there.

Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters also killed the self-proclaimed Daesh governor of Badush, identified as Ali Salem al-Jabouri, during skirmishes west of Mosul.

An Iraqi soldier fires toward the positions of Takfiri Daesh militants in western Mosul on March 11, 2017 as the battle to retake the city from the terror group continues. (Photo by AFP)

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) also announced in a statement that Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) forces had retaken control of Mosul’s western neighborhood of Aqwat, killing many Daesh terrorists and destroying their military hardware in the process.

Additionally, Commander of the Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat stated that security forces had liberated a popular market and Ramah area in the central Bab al-Toub neighborhood of Mosul.

Iraqi army soldiers and allied Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters launched their offensive to retake Mosul last October and since then they have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements.

Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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