PMUs say killed 15 Islamic State members in western Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary forces said Monday they killed 15 members of the Islamic State in western Mosul as government troops close in on the extremist group in the region.

Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) have said they killed 15 militants at al-Hadar region. The force killed the militants after 30 minutes of clashes that followed a failed attack by the group.

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 another offensive launched in February.

Iraqi troops have made remarkable victories in the west by recapturing major government facilities, a military base and the city’s airport. They are currently pressing on IS in the Old City in central Mosul, a region which military leaders will largely put the battle’s outcome in their favor.

PMUs have been mostly operating near the IS stronghold town of Tal Afar, near the borders with Syria, and had claimed to severe the road between that town and Mosul, effectively trapping the militant group inside the city and denying it its supply lines.