UPDATED: Army recaptures village near western Mosul town, PMUs kill 2 bombers
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units)
The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said army forces took over Sheikh Mohamed village east of the town of Badush, raising Iraqi flags there.
Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary forces also said they killed two suicide bombers from the Islamic State near Badush.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said through its media the force killed two suicide attackers and destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle the town that has been a stage for continuous operations against Islamic State militants.
Al-Hashd said the pair was killed before an attempted attack on the PMUs at the outskirts of Badush.
Iraqi forces have recaptured several villages and neighborhood around Badush since operations to retake western Mosul from IS launched in February. They also recaptured the town’s famous prison where hundreds of inmates were executed in 2014 by the extremist group.Al-Hashd said recently the forces discovered a mass grave of 500 dead people believed to have been executed in the prison.
Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State on January 24th after three months of battles, and recently said they became in control of 30 percent of western Mosul since the start of offensives on the western region.
Iraqi troops have made remarkable victories in the west by recapturing major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport.