Soldier killed in clashes with IS vestiges in Mosul’s Old City
FILE PHOTO: A member of Iraqi rapid response forces carries his weapon, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani – RTX38TUN
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) An Iraqi security member was killed on Monday during clashes with remnant Islamic State militants in western Mosul’s Old City, a security source was quoted saying.
Shafaq News quoted the source saying that a soldier was killed and another was wounded during operations targeting the remaining havens in Shahwan neighborhood in the Old City. The source added that Iraqi forces destroyed four underground tunnels dug by the group there.
Iraqi government forces continue to clear western Mosul for residual IS pockets since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over the militant group in Mosul last week, ending an eight-month-old campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops.
Iraqi troops recaptured the eastern side of Mosul late January and aimed at the western section in mid February.
The medieval Old City was the birthplace of the Islamic State’s self-styled “Caliphate” from where the group’s supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the group’s control over a third of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The Joint Operations Command, which spearheaded the campaign against IS, said Saturday that more than 25000 Is members had been killed since operations to retake Mosul launched in October.