Iraq News

International coalition shells ISIL positions in west Mosul

The international coalition has started targeting "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) positions in western Mosul after Iraqi forces completed their recapture of the eastern side of town this week, an Iraqi official said Wednesday (January 25th).

The coalition is especially striking at targets adjacent to the Tigris River, joint operations command spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahiya al-Zubaidi told Diyaruna.

"International coalition fighter jets have destroyed eight ISIL boats and shelled six of the group's gatherings, including a main headquarters, in Mosul's west side," he said.

"Dozens of ISIL terrorists have been killed and wounded in the airstrikes," he said, adding that the operations to retake the western part of Mosul will start "soon".

Meanwhile, hundreds of families who fled Mosul last year left displacement camps Wednesday to head back to their homes, in the biggest wave yet of returns to the city, AFP reported.

The authorities have been organising returns from Khazir and Hasan Sham displacement camps twice a week.

"We are now taking 500 families, which means 2,700 people, to their liberated houses," local official Mustafa Hamid Sarhan said at the Khazir camp, which lies south-east of Mosul.

"This is the biggest wave," he added, as at least 50 buses lined up for families cleaning up their tents and packing their belongings for the journey home.

According to the UN, more than 180,000 people have been displaced since the start of the offensive but at least 22,000 have since returned to their homes.

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