Iraq News

Iraq eyes recapture of east Mosul within days

Iraqi forces will retake east Mosul from the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) within days, a top commander said Monday (January 9th), after his fighters in the city reached the Tigris River for the first time, AFP reported.

East Mosul will be retaken within "a few days, God willing", Staff Lt. Gen. Abdulghani al-Assadi, a top commander in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), said.

Al-Assadi's remarks came a day after officials said Iraqi forces in Mosul had reached the eastern side of a bridge across the Tigris River, which divides the city, for the first time during the operation.

The general said that "our units... are close to encircling Mosul University", whose sprawling campus is located east of the Tigris.

Iraqi forces reached the Tigris River banks after liberating four neighbourhoods in one day, Ninawa operations commander Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah told Diyaruna.

"The army and CTS forces reached the 4th Bridge on the Tigris River from the south-eastern side after liberating al-Furqan, al-Wehda, al-Sinaa and al-Mazareh neighbourhoods in one day on Sunday," he said.

"ISIL has suffered heavy losses in these confrontations, including more than 170 terrorists killed or wounded," he said.

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