Iraqi army takes control of at least 12 districts in Mosul

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

The Iraqi Army has released at least 12 districts of Mosul from the militants of the terrorist group “Islamic State”, TASS reported with reference to the TV channel “Sky News Arabia”.

The Iraqi forces also liberated from the IS 50 settlements on the outskirts of Mosul, including Hamam al-Alil and Baashik.

Over the past four days, the Iraqi forces with the support of the international antiterrorist coalition killed more than 200 militants of IS, the TV channel reported.

An operation of Iraqi government troops to regain control over Mosul began on October 17. In addition to Iraqi government forces, the operation involves local Peshmerga militia (Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq).

 The attack is supported by the international Anti-Terrorism Coalition’s Air Force.

The terrorist organization "Islamic State" considers Mosul as its main stronghold in Iraq.

The Iraqi army for the first time since the start of operations to liberate Mosul has managed to enter the areas located in the Northern part of the city on November 7 and keep moving to the center of the city.

Being one of the key oil centers of Iraq, the city of Mosul went entirely under the control of the IS terrorists in June 2014. It is the second largest city of Iraq with a population of 1.3 million people. The number of IG militants concentrated in Mosul is more than 6,000 people.

The UN informs that more than 3.4 million people are now displaced in Iraq -- more than half of them children, while more than 10 million are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.