Daesh mortar attack leaves 16 Iraqi civilians dead in Mosul

At least 16 civilians have lost their lives in a mortar attack by members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group on residential neighborhoods in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which government forces and allied fighters are trying to recapture from the militants.

Iraqi military and hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the civilians were killed when several mortar shells fired by Takfiri terrorists struck areas across the city, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad, overnight and early on Saturday.

The bodies of the victims have been brought to military hospitals in eastern Mosul, the officials added.

Separately, the Iraqi Federal Police announced in a statement that security forces had liberated Um al-Masaed village, which lies southwest of Mosul, from the grip of Daesh Takfiris, and wrested control over the road linking Mosul to the nearby city of Tal Afar.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) also reported that soldiers from the 9th Armored Division retook the village of Jeliokhan, situated 10 kilometers southeast of Mosul, from Daesh on Saturday.

Moreover, an armed CASC Rainbow drone of the Iraqi army targeted and destroyed a car rigged with some 200 improvised explosive devices in al-Zawiyah village south of Mosul.

The vehicle had been parked close to a militant hideout, which accommodated a bomb-making workshop. The force of the explosion reduced the building to a pile of debris.

Pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, better known by the Arabic name al-Hashd al-Shaabi, also recaptured the village of al-Baynounah, south of Tal Afar, on Saturday, following fierce skirmishes with Daesh terrorists. An unspecified number of the extremists were reportedly killed during the gun battle.

Later in the day, Hashd al-Shaabi forces wrested control over al-Ajbouri and al-Fotsah villages west of Tal Afar, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul, after they engaged pockets of Daesh militants there.

The volunteer forces also managed to free 400 families from the grip of Daesh in al-Ajbouri. The civilians were being used as human shields by the terrorists.

Additionally, Popular Mobilization Units seized full control of the hilly Tal Samir Kabir region in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.

There are also reports that the Daesh self-proclaimed governor of Tal Afar has stolen millions of dollars, and fled the area along with four close aides.

A local source, requesting not to be named, said the director for Daesh public properties affairs in Tal Afar, identified as Abu Islam Uzbek, is among the militants at large. The defectors are apparently heading towards al-Ba'aj district.

After months of preparation, Iraqi army soldiers, backed by pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from the Daesh terrorists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, will be fully recaptured by year-end.

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