The Ninawa Operations Command on Thursday (December 1st) recapped the Iraqi forces' victories in the Ninawa liberation battle over the past 45 days.

"Iraqi forces have scored large victories against the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) on various fronts," Iraqi Army Operations commander in Ninawa, Lt. Gen. Abdul Ameer Rashid Yarallah, said in a statement.

"On the southern front, 96 villages, three towns, and 56 oil wells have been liberated, and our forces are now on the outskirts of Albu Seif, south of Mosul," he said.

"We have also destroyed 239 car bombs in co-operation with the Iraqi army’s air component, Iraqi air force and international coalition," he said. "We have cleared about 1,855 square kilometres of land, along with the al-Qayyara-Hamam al-Alil old and new highways."

On the south-eastern front, Iraqi forces have liberated 54 villages and several cities and towns, including al-Hamdaniya, Karemles, Nimrud and al-Salamiya.

They also cleared four neighbourhoods on the eastern side, destroyed 77 car bombs and cleared 950 square kilometres of land, he added.

On the northern front, the army has liberated 21 villages, including al-Shallalat, Bweiza and Dejla Mall, he said.

"It cleared 112 square kilometres of land and destroyed 23 car bombs," he added.

As for the eastern front, "our forces have liberated 15 villages, including Bartella and Bazwaya, and cleared 23 neighbourhoods on the left bank [of the Tigris river]", Yarallah said.

"Iraqi forces are now in the process of liberating the remaining 56 neighbourhoods on the eastern side of Mosul," he said. "They have also cleared 140 square kilometres of land and destroyed 151 car bombs in co-operation with the international coalition."

Peshmerga forces have liberated 28 villages, including Bashiqa . They have cleared 500 square kilometres of land and destroyed 55 car bombs, he said.

On Thursday, Peshmerga ministry secretary-general Jabar Yawar announced that a total of 1,600 Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been killed in Iraq since June 2014, AFP reported.

"Since the beginning of the war against ISIL, which means June 2014, until November 30th (2016), the total number of martyrs is 1,614 and the wounded are 9,515," he said.