Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) have recaptured Tel Ghazal, Tel Majan and Shouwaira villages in Nineveh province. They hoisted the Iraqi national flag over a number of buildings, the commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, announced on Sunday. He added that the government forces had inflicted heavy losses on Daesh during clashes with the terrorists.
In a press statement, Yarallah revealed that Iraqi Special Operations Forces have liberated 38 neighbourhoods, including Al-Fallahat, which is said to be the largest in the south of Mosul city. A total of 25 Daesh militants are said to have been killed during clashes.
According to Iran’s Press TV, Iraqi soldiers also established control over the villages of Kuri Ghariban, Al-Darawish and Abu Jarbouah to the north of Mosul, some 400 kilometres north of the capital, Baghdad.
An Iraqi security source, meanwhile, reported that the US-led coalition air strikes have destroyed four of the five bridges that span the River Tigris in Mosul. He added that the coalition has destroyed the Ateeq Bridge, which connects the east and west parts of the city; Nineveh province has thus effectively been divided into two.
In a related move, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for talks with Iraqi leaders on the US-backed military campaign against Daesh in Mosul, the Pentagon said. Recently, Carter said that the battle for Mosul, while hard, could be complete before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. That, however, would require a significant acceleration in the Iraqi army’s progress.
“But this is a war, so I’m not going to predict that,” Carter added. “It’s going to be a tough fight.”
The Pentagon said that the defence secretary would meet Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, the President of the Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, and the commander of the US-led coalition supporting Iraqi forces, US Lieutenant-General Steve Townsend. He is expected to thank coalition and Iraqi troops engaged in the counter-Daesh campaign. “He will also survey key locations directly supporting the battle for Mosul, and discuss the next steps in the fight,” a Pentagon statement revealed.
Over 85,000 people have been displaced since the operation to recapture Mosul began nearly two months ago.