Iraqi forces retake six neighborhoods in E. Mosul

By Haydar Hadi, Othman al-Shalash and Ali Jawad

MOSUL, Iraq

Iraqi forces have retaken six neighborhoods from the Daesh terrorist group in eastern Mosul, army sources said Friday.

According to Abdulamir Rashid Yarullah, head of the army’s Nineveh Operations Command, Iraqi counter-terrorism forces recaptured the districts of Al-Malayin, Al-Samah, Al-Khazra, Kirkukli, Al-Quds and Al-Karama.

In a statement, the commander noted that Iraqi national flags had been raised over government buildings in recaptured areas.

Late Thursday, Iraq’s Defense Ministry announced that, over the course of the last four days, 125 Daesh militants had been killed and 24 villages and areas in Nineveh province -- of which Mosul is the regional capital -- had been wrested from the terrorist group.

On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, which Daesh overran in mid-2014.

In a related development Friday, four Iraqi army troops and seven pro-government Shia militiamen were killed while fighting Daesh in Iraq’s northern Saladin province, Army Captain Ghazwan al-Jabouri told Anadolu Agency.

The casualties were reportedly sustained after dozens of Daesh militants infiltrated parts of Saladin’s city of Al-Shirqat.

Clashes are still reportedly underway in the area, with Daesh militants in control of Al-Shirqat’s Al-Baaja and Al-Khesm neighborhoods.