Members of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) have reached the eastern bank of the Tigris River in Mosul as they along with allied fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces try to expel Daesh terrorists from their last urban stronghold in the country.
CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told Reuters on Sunday that Iraqi troops fought their way to the fourth bridge over the river, which has been damaged in fighting between government forces and Daesh militants.
The Iraqi Defense Ministry also announced in a statement that a CH-4 Rainbow drone of the country’s Air Force carried out a precision strike against a Daesh fuel depot in the al-Andalus neighborhood of western Mosul, setting the site ablaze and killing a Daesh extremist.
Read more: Iraqi government forces make fresh gains in militant-held Mosul
Moreover, Iraqi security forces established over the mosque, where purported Daesh ringleader Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave his famous speech on the formation of the terror group.
Iraqi counter terrorism forces also regained control of a health center in Mosul’s eastern neighborhood of Sukr.
US-led warplanes kill 27 civilians in Iraq's Mosul
Meanwhile, an Iraqi medical official says 27 civilians were killed on Saturday when the US-led coalition purportedly fighting Daesh in Iraq carried out two separate airstrikes in Mosul.
Dr. Ahmed Raid al-Hamadani, an official with Mosul operations' mobile hospitals unit, told Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency that at least 15 people lost their lives as US-led military aircraft struck a civilian convoy of 10 vehicles in the eastern part of Mosul.
Coalition planes also hit Ibn al-Haysum neighborhood in southeastern Mosul, killing 12 civilians, including women and children.
Also read: Another car bombing hits Baghdad’s Sadr City
Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units – commonly known by their Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi – and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.
A total of 129,642 civilians have been displaced from Mosul and neighboring areas ever since the start of the operations, according to figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on January 3.
