MOSUL, Iraq, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) militant initiated on Saturday a new push into three neighborhood at the northern edge of the old city center amid heavy clashes with extremist militants, the Iraqi military said.
The new progress began early in the morning when the Iraqi army soldiers pushed into al-Shifaa neighborhood, and the federal police and the elite Interior Ministry special forces, known as Rapid Response, advanced into the neighboring al-Zanjili neighborhood, while the commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service pushed into the IS-held part of al-Seha neighborhood, Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a brief statement.
Late on Friday, the security forces intensified rocket and artillery shelling on IS headquarters and their defensive lines in several area at the edges of the heavily-populated city center, according to a statement by Lt. Gen. Raed Shakir Jawdat, the commander of the federal police force.
Iraqi forces, backed by international coalition, have been fighting to drive out IS militant from the western side of Mosul, but several neighborhoods, including the densely-populated old city center, are still under control of the extremist militant.
Two days ago, the Iraqi military issued a statement urging the residents of the remaining IS-held neighborhoods to leave their homes through safe corridors.
"We ask all of you to leave and move immediately to the safe corridors that we will set up for you. You will find guides, protection and vehicles to transfer you to safe areas," the JOC said in a statement on Thursday.
The government wants to avoid civilian casualties, who have been used by the extremist IS militant as human shields, and in order to pave the way for the security forces to free the rest of the western side of Mosul, according to the statement.
Late in January, Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, declared the liberation of Mosul's eastern side, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against IS militant.
On February 19, Abadi announced the start of an offensive to drive extremist militant out of the western side of Mosul.
However, the western part of Mosul, with its narrow streets and heavily populated neighborhoods, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces.
Mosul, 400 km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militant to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
