Iraqi Forces Retake Villages near Mosul
Iraqi troops have liberatedtwo villages in southern Mosul from the grip of Daesh terrorists as part of the push by government forces for recapturing the strategic northern city, Press T.V reported.
Nofel Hamadi al-Sultan, the governor of Nineveh Province, where Mosul is located, said security forces managed to wrest control of the villages in the region of Qayyarah on Tuesday, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.
Iraqi soldiers also retook a residential complex in the same area, the report added.
The neighboring district of al-Shirqat, situated in Salahuddin Province, was also encircled by the Iraqi forces during Tuesday’s operation.
The road, which links Qayyarah to Shirqat, was one of the major Daesh supply lines.
On Saturday, Iraqi forces retook the Qayyarah air base from Daesh.
In another development on Tuesday, Iraqi armed forces discovered a jail underground in Qayyarah and released hundreds of innocent prisoners who were held by Daesh terrorists.
The Iraqi army also found a six-kilometer tunnel in northern Ramadi with a large quantity of clothes and gold inside the passage. Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, was liberated last December almost one year after it fell to the hands of the extremists.
Ismail al-Mahlavi, the commander of the Iraqi army’s operations in Nineveh, said the tunnel was located in a village in northern Ramadi, Iraq’s al-Sumaria satellite TV network reported.
Also on Tuesday, Iraqi security forces uncovered Daesh torture cells and iron cages in the recently recaptured city of Fallujah, al-Qadir TV reported.
Meanwhile, Iraqi sources said they found cells used for punishing women who refused to marry terrorists. They further discovered torture equipment such as iron spikes, chains and car batteries.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists began their reign of terror in the country in June 2014.
Iraqi army troops, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.
Having suffered heavy losses on the battlefield against Iraqi soldiers, Daesh has recently stepped up its terror attacks across the country.
R.S