Iraqi forces take another three villages south of Mosul

By Jamal al-Badrani

NINEVEH, Iraq

Iraqi forces recaptured three villages south of Mosul on the fifth day of a wide-ranging military campaign to retake the city from the Daesh terrorist group, Iraqi military sources said Friday.

"Joint forces from the army, police and Peshmerga renewed operations at dawn today along several axes, attacking Daesh positions and liberating three villages," Colonel Mohamed al-Jubouri of the army’s Joint Nineveh Operations Command told Anadolu Agency.

"Federal police backed by local tribal militias managed to liberate two villages in the Al-Shura district, located along the Al-Qayyarah axis some 60 kilometers south of Mosul," al-Jubouri said.

The Iraqi army’s 15th division, he added, along with its tribal allies, had also recaptured Doizzat village in the Al-Qayyarah district, located on the west bank of the Tigris River.

One day earlier, the Iraqi military announced that the army and its allies had recaptured a total of 17 villages south of Mosul -- along with 56 oil wells -- during pitched fighting on Thursday with Daesh militants.

Early Monday, Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a much-anticipated offensive to retake Mosul.

Daesh’s last major stronghold in northern Iraq, Mosul was overrun by the terrorist group in mid-2014.