Iraqi forces continue advance in IS redoubt in Mosul's old city

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-05 06:05:54|Editor: yan
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MOSUL, Iraq, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Tuesday continued to push forward into the remaining redoubt of the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul's old city amid fierce clashes with extremists in West Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The federal police has freed a commercial area and a mosque and are fighting to seize Khalid Ibn al-Walid thoroughfare in Bab al-Toub neighborhood in the old city, Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a brief statement.

Iraq's Counter Terrorism Service, army, federal police and the Rapid Response forces have been fighting inside the old city, but the troops are making slow progress due to the stiff resistance of IS militants.

The battles also continued in the remaining part of al-Shifaa neighborhood, the last neighborhood still seized by IS militants outside the major IS redoubt of the old city center.

Also in the day, an Iraqi army commander said that full liberation of Mosul from IS militants will be within the upcoming two days.

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 militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.

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