Update: Iraqi troops liberate 28 districts in eastern Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops have recaptured 28 districts in eastern Mosul, the Counter Terrorism Service said on Friday, saying that as a seven-week old campaign to clear the city from Islamic State (ISIS) militants ended its first phase.

CTS commander, Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, stated government forces have become in control of 28 districts in eastern Mosul, noting that operations were running “as planned” with an air cover provided by Iraqi and international coalition fair forces.

The CTS said in a statement on Friday that the forces recaptured the districts of al-Adl and al-Taamim in the east. Security sources were quoted earlier on the same day as saying that the forces recaptured the districts of Nawafel, Simyak and Abbassiy in the north.

Military and police commanders said recently that government forces became in control of nearly 50 percent of the eastern section of Mosul. ISIS remains in control of most of the western region adjacent to the group’s strongholds in Syria, but Iraqi security commanders and Al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia leaders say they had managed to cut ISIS’s supply and escape routes to and from Syria.

Commanders, however, admit fierce resistance from ISIS combatants who rely on booby-traps and suicide attacks. Iraqi troops withdrew one day ago from recently-recaptured districts under intense, fatal assaults from the militants. They also attribute occasional slowdowns in operations to anxiousness to ensure the safety of civilians stranded within the battlefield.