Iraqi forces, supported by aerial coverage from the international coalition, have retaken al-Yarmouk gardens and large parts of al-Maghreb neighbourhood from the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said Wednesday (March 29th).
"Iraqi forces have liberated new areas and killed a larger number of ISIL terrorists," command spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasul told Diyaruna.
They now control "more than 60% of west Mosul, and ISIL's control over the neighbourhoods where it still has a presence is diminishing", he said.
Rasul said Iraqi troops are avoiding the use of heavy weapons in the battle "to spare the civilian population".
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still inside west Mosul, which is both smaller and more densely populated than the city's east.
