Iraqi forces enter the old neighborhood in Mosul and close to the Mosque of Al - Nouri



2017-03-18 02:01:16 | (Voice of Iraq) - Iraqi troops entered the old neighborhood in Mosul and the surrounding area Mosque of al - Nuri on Friday in an attempt to cut the main road could be flowing from bombers to organize the Islamic state to attack their positions.

Troops and meet with violent resistance with the decline militants into the old neighborhood where he is expected to rotate a cohesive fighting in the narrow alleys around the mosque , which declared the organization 's leader , Abu Bakr al - Baghdadi state "caliphate" about three years ago.

The helicopter fired missiles , aircraft and heard the sound of heavy gunfire and mortars , while clashes took place in the nearby neighborhoods of Al - Nouri mosque where the banner of the organization is still hoisted onto its minaret.

A spokesman for the federal police , the police and rapid reaction forces are in full control on the mosque Basha Street justice and market Serail door inside the old neighborhood.

He added that the forces were trying to isolate the region from all sides and then start an attack from all sides.

After five months after the campaign of liberation of Mosul , the last great stronghold of the Islamic state in the country , supported by the Coalition strikes led by the United States and the Iraqi forces had regained control of the eastern part of the city and about half of western Mosul , the other bank of the Tigris River.

The loss will be a big hit Mosul Islamic state. The city was a stronghold of the militant organization since al - Baghdadi , which was announced in July Caliphate State in July 2014.

Iraqi forces are trying to surround the old quarter and cut through to get out of it to prevent the militants of the Islamic state from sending car bombs and trucks that targeted army positions inside the city.

A suicide bomber driving a bulldozer has penetrated the ranks of the Iraqi forces on Wednesday and run over cars and barriers before it performs a bombing that damaged vehicles, including US - made Abrams Iraqi tanks.

A spokesman for the rapid reaction forces "bulldozer bomb badly managed access to our troops near the museum through side roads old quarter and we lost Abrams tanks and three Humvees and four soldiers."

The official said the rapid reaction forces , they were able to prevent the attack on Thursday when a rocket hit a car in the neighborhood of brick door before you can get close to the federal police and other units.

* Guerrilla methods

The militants to organize the Islamic State overran about a third of the area of Iraq when the army left its positions provided two years ago. The Iraqi government says it has rebuilt the security forces since then and gained the confidence of the battlefield and regained control of the territory it has lost.

And it offers a coalition led by the United States support through air strikes and intelligence information and through advisers on the ground. Because of the battle of Mosul , the US military a greater role than ever since it began to withdraw from Iraq in 2011. Former President Barack Obama sends thousands of troops there as advisers.

US officials estimate that about two thousand fighters were still inside the city. But there is a risk that the militants will return to the methods of guerrilla warfare and bombings they used before against the capital and other cities.

And to completely north of Baghdad , sources in the army and police said a Sunni leader of the armed group was killed along with two members of his family and two of his bodyguards on Friday when he broke into his home by gunmen and suicide bombers.

The killing of nice being a leading group in the small city of viewing and security sources cast blame on the Islamic state in carrying out the attack.

Weaver population of the western neighborhoods of the connector , which the government regained control and, many of them suffering from shock as a result of hunger and to live within the confines of strict Islamic rule of the state. Many say that the food at least, security is fragile even in the liberated areas.

And live up to 600 thousand civilians with militants inside Mosul , its isolation from the rest of the Iraqi forces under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria territory. Iraqi forces , including the military and special forces and Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite armed groups.

According to United Nations figures that about 255 thousand people displaced from Mosul and surrounding areas since October, including more than a hundred thousand people since the start of the recent military campaign in western city on February 19.

This week saw the highest level of the exodus so far as displaced between 32 thousand on 12 and 15 March.

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