Iraqi forces advance in Mosul, recapture 2 districts

Iraqi forces moved into the city of Mosul, on Tuesday, amid escalating clashes with elements of ISIS, while many civilians were killed and wounded as a result of the shelling of their homes. This comes as the commander of the battle of Mosu announced that the Iraqi forces managed to liberate new positions from the grip of the organization on the right side of the city of Mosul.

"Army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces recaptured Al-Resala neighborhood, Nablus apartments and lifting the Iraqi flag over its buildings," the head of Nineveh Operations, Major General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said in a statement.
 
Meanwhile, a military source confirmed, Tuesday, that more than 22 civilians were killed and wounded in the old city of Mosul.

"The police forces advanced several axes towards the old city of Mosul," an officer in the Federal Police Command said Tuesday. "The forces advanced in the neighborhoods of Bab al-Toub, Bab al-Jadid and Bab al-Baid, and clashed with ISIS elements there, leaving heavy losses in the ranks of ISIS, pointing out that the clashes are continuing in the region, while the organization retreats as the Iraqi factions progress," he added.

The anti-radicalization forces in the southern axis on the right side of the Mosul crossed the defenses of ISIS in Yarmouk and Al-Yabas districts, he said, adding that the units that rushed into the neighborhood are facing heavy shelling of ISIS's artillery.

The International Coalition carried out an airstrike targeting ISIS's gathering west of Mosul, the office said, adding that the airstrike left about 16 elements of ISIS killed, in the Zanjili area, and the burning of a number of wheels.

The number of refugees displaced by battles between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants in Mosul reached 415.000 since security operations launched in October, according to the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR).
 
This is is the number of people displaced since the Iraqi government launched a U.S.-backed offensive to recapture Iraq’s second largest city and IS’s largest stronghold in Iraq, IOHR said.
 
The organization voiced concern for the lives of refugees both inside and outside refugee camps. It quoted some refugees from western Mosul saying they preferred to seek shelter with relatives in Mosul’s recaptured eastern side rather than stay at refugee camps in Hammam al-Alil district where “nothing would help them stay,” as they put it.
 
Others were quoted by the organization saying it was “difficult to live in camps due to the absence of daily livelihood requirements.”
 
The Iraqi government has recently said that 181.000 people fled western Mosul since operations launched in February to retake that area, driving the total of those displaced since October to 355.000.

The United Nations had warned that battles in Mosul could displace at least 400.000 out of 750.000 living in western Mosul, and said in 2016 the offensive to retake the city could force at least 1.5 million people to flee homes in the city.
 
The Iraqi government says more than 4 million were internally displaced since IS emerged in 2014.

On the other hand, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has met on Tuesday with US Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the war against ISIS terrorists.
 
Abadi's media office said that both sides tackled bilateral relations and means of supporting Iraqi forces in its war against ISIS terrorists.
 
Earlier, Trump had welcomed Abadi at the White House on Monday and assured US full support for Iraq in its current war aiming to liberate Mosul city from ISIS terrorists.