Police run into IS munitions hidden in western Mosul cemeteries
Improvised explosive devices cache. File photo.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi police forces in Mosul have found a cache of explosives belonging to Islamic State militants which the militants had hidden in a cemeteries, a local police official was quoted saying.
Brig. Gen. Watheq al-Hamadani, from the Nineveh police service, told Kurdish-run BasNews website on Sunday that police forces found nearly 18 explosive belts ready for use as well as detonation devices and tens of explosive barrels at cemeteries in Wadi Akab and al-Thawra regions.
Since the Iraqi government declared early July the recapture of Mosul, IS’s former capital in Iraq, police forces have been combing the western side of the city for sleeper militant cells and munition hiding places. The militants have also launched a few sporadic attacks against troops and civilians since the declaration.
On Friday, Nineveh police said troops found the largest IS munition stash ever found in Mosul at Sirjkhana district, containing hundreds of rockets, IEDs and explosive belts.
The Iraqi government intends to aim at other IS havens in Anbar, Kirkuk and Salahuddin once it is done with retaking Tal Afar, Islamic State’s last stronghold in Nineveh which the Defense Ministry had completed preparations for invading.