Joint Iraqi forces, supported by the international coalition, are now only three kilometres away from the Tigris River, a senior military official said Tuesday (December 27th).
"Iraqi forces are about to fully isolate the eastern side of Mosul from its western side, by continuing to liberate neighbourhoods one after the other," Ninawa Operations commander Nejim Eddin Karim al-Jubury told Diyaruna.
"The road that links al-Noor neighbourhood to the ancient city has been retaken, and international coalition forces have paved the way for more progress on the northern front by shelling ISIL gatherings," he said.
The objective now is to reach Tigris River which is "just 3 kilometres away from our army's front line", he said.
About 3,000 civilians have been evacuated from Mosul and medical assistance has been provided to about 500 others, al-Jubury said, noting that at least 30 "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" elements were killed in Tuesday’s clashes.
