At least 16 civilians killed in Daesh attack on Mosul

By Mohammed Walid

NINEVEH, Iraq

At least 16 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 43 others injured in a Daesh rocket attack in the newly-liberated eastern side of Mosul on Sunday, a military official confirmed.

"Two Katyusha rockets landed this [Sunday] afternoon on the Prophet Younis market in eastern Mosul, killing 16 civilians, and injuring 43 others," Iraqi army's Brigadier General Younis Ali Najjar told Anadolu Agency.

"The injured are being treated at hospitals across the city," he said, adding 11 shops had been totally burnt in the attack.

Civil defense crews along with the security forces are currently working to evacuate the bodies of the dead from the scene of the attack, he noted, adding that the firefighters were also trying to put out the fires in the shops.

Iraqi forces have driven Daesh terrorists from most of Mosul’s eastern districts as part of a wide-ranging Iraqi army offensive launched last October to retake the city, which was overrun by the terrorist group in mid-2014.

In mid-February, Iraqi forces -- backed by a U.S.-led air coalition -- began fresh operations aimed at purging Daesh terrorists from western Mosul.