(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – General Commander of Iraqi Armed forces and Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced on Monday launching the battle to liberate Mosul from the ISIS grip, and pointed out that the security forces that will participate in the battle are Iraqi army, police and national police.

Prime Minister Haider Abadi said in a speech on state TV, “I announce today the start of the heroic operations to free you from the terror and the oppression of Daesh (ISIS).”

“We will meet soon on the ground of Mosul to celebrate liberation and your salvation,” Abadi added.

Abadi also called the people of Mosul to cooperate with the security forces, and emphasized that the battle will be handled by the Iraqi army and national police only.

Nearly 65,000 military personnel including Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga militia and Sunni tribal fighters were expected to participate in the offensive to liberate the city of more than 5,000 ISIS militants. </s> Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday and congratulated Iraqi armed forces for driving the extremist militant Islamic State (ISIS) group out of its major stronghold in the country.

Iraqi armed forces, backed by a United States-led coalition, were battling ISIS in Mosul for months. The victory marks the end of the battle that left Iraq's second largest city in ruins, killed hundreds of people and displaced almost a million civilians.

Abadi's office said he was visiting "liberated" Mosul to congratulate his "heroic fighters". However, the Prime Minister later suggested he would only declare victory once final pockets of resistance were cleared.

"Victory is certain, and the (IS) remnants are surrounded... and it is just a matter of time for us to announce the great victory to our people," Abadi said in a statement.

The delay "comes out of my respect and support for our... forces who are continuing the clearing operation," he said.

"There are only one or two pockets of Daesh remnants left," and "the major victory is in hand," the premier added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Iraqi troops are reportedly still battling ISIS militants in some of the last areas of resistance, and could be facing guerrilla attacks for weeks.

The prime minister's office said that Abadi met commanders in Mosul and issued a series of orders on "sustaining victories and eliminating the defeated remnants" of ISIS, as well as "establishing security and stability in the liberated city."

Although most of Mosul has been reclaimed by the Iraqi forces, they still face dangers ahead with ISIS sleeper cells and suicide bombers.

The forces would also need to clear all the houses in the city, which are rigged with explosive traps so that civilians can return to the region.

The battle against ISIS is still a long way to go in Iraq as other cities continue to remain under the group's control. </s> Iraqi security forces advance during fighting against Islamic State militants, in western Mosul, Iraq, Monday, March 6, 2017.

BAGHDAD — A senior Iraqi military commander says troops have captured the government complex in western Mosul from the Islamic State group.

The advance comes more than two weeks since the new push started to clear the city's western side of IS.

Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Raheed Yar Allah says troops hoisted an Iraqi flag on the buildings in the Dawasa neighborhood on Tuesday, hailing the federal police as "heroes."

Yar Allah commands army operations in Ninevah, where Mosul is the provincial capital.

He says the troops also control the western side of a second bridge across the Tigris River.

U.S.-led airstrikes disabled Mosul's five bridges last year in a bid to isolate the militants. Iraq declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" last month but the militants have carried out attacks there since then. </s> Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Sunday "victory" over Islamic State in the city of Mosul, his office said.

"The commander in chief of the armed forces (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi arrived in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people for the great victory," said a statement from his office. </s> (IraqiNews.com) Mosul – Iraqi security forces liberated on Tuesday the state-run Iraq Media Network’s office in the city of Mosul from the self-proclaimed Islamic State extremist group, state TV has announced in breaking news.

“Anti-terrorism forces have entered the city’s first districts, liberated the Iraq Media Network’s building in the east side of Mosul, capital of Nineveh Governorate, and raised the Iraqi flag above,” the report said.

An operation by Iraqi security forces, codenamed “We Are Coming Nineveh”, has entered its 16th day to liberate the governorate, IS’s last stronghold in the country. The campaign reached the east side on Monday, with IS abolishing reference to Mosul as the capital of its proclaimed “Caliphate” and evacuating its camps and secret prisons in the Ghazlani, besides taking out its wounded fighters from the city’s hospitals to an unknown destination.

In a related context, Abdel Karim al-Kilani, media advisor to the Nineveh governorate council, said Islamic State militants are holding 100 former security officers captives inside an ancient church in Babd al-Bid in central Mosul. He suggested that the group holds the captives for fear of a popular uprising against its fighters as Iraqi forces continue to successfully advance towards the province’s capital. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption Troops have faced fierce resistance from militants using suicide car bombs and snipers

Iraqi security forces are only days away from completing the operation to recapture Mosul from so-called Islamic State, the army's chief of staff says.

Lt Gen Othman al-Ghanimi told the BBC he hoped the jihadist group would be defeated in the city before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins on 26 May.

Recent gains in the north meant the remaining militants were being squeezed into an ever smaller area, he added.

Mosul fell to IS in 2014 and is its last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

Pro-government forces launched a major offensive to retake the city in October with the support of US-led coalition air strikes.

They managed to take full control of the eastern half of Mosul in January and started an assault on the west the following month.

Fewer than 1,000 militants are now besieged in several north-western districts, including the Old City, along with as many as 450,000 civilians.

"The security forces are carrying out a big and effective effort. I say that Daesh (IS) will be finished in days, God willing," Gen Ghanimi told BBC Arabic's Feras Kilani.

"I say that the rest of Mosul will be liberated before the holy month of Ramadan."

A week ago, units from the army's 9th Armoured Division and the interior ministry's Rapid Response Force opened a new front in the north after the advance into the densely-populated Old City from the south and west stalled.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Iraqi security forces launched an assault on the western half of Mosul in February

Progress in the north was initially limited by fierce resistance from militants using suicide car bombs and snipers, but Gen Ghanimi said gains were now being made.

On Wednesday, police commander Lt Gen Raed Jawdat said the Rapid Response Force had stormed the entrances to the Iqtisadiyeen district, south-east of Mushairfa, and killed dozens of militants in heavy clashes.

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The United Nations has said the battle has left more than 8,000 civilians dead or wounded, but that figure only includes people transferred to medical facilities.

Iraq's military does not release casualty figures, but a US general said at the end of March that 774 Iraqi security personnel had been killed and 4,600 wounded.

More than 620,000 civilians have also been displaced by the fighting, among them 414,000 from western Mosul, the Iraqi authorities say.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Shifa'a, 8, went to an IS school

Most have taken refuge in nearby camps and reception centres. Others are staying with relatives and friends.

The UN says another 100,000 to 200,000 could flee the final battle for the Old City.

On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern for civilians inside IS-led districts, saying they were facing "very stark choices" as supplies of food and water ran out.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption More than 414,000 civilians have been displaced by the battle for western Mosul

"This population is not only exposed to the immediate dangers of the conflict itself and being either targeted or hit as collateral damage, but is also facing the effects of just no longer really having much access to the basic essentials that they need to live," deputy Middle East director Patrick Hamilton told Reuters news agency.

"People don't have enough to eat, don't have water," he added. "Babies, elderly and so on of course they are very vulnerable and may already be dying." </s> MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — The Latest on developments in the fight for Mosul in Iraq (all times local):

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has been celebrating with Iraqi troops in Mosul after they drove Islamic State militants from some of their last strongholds in a nearly nine-month campaign.

But heavy fighting by holdouts continues in parts of the Old City neighborhood near the Tigris River. A smiling al-Abadi walked among the soldiers, at one point grabbing an Iraqi flag and briefly draping it across his shoulders.

Other troops waved flags and pointed their weapons in the air nearby.

Al-Iraqia TV quoted him congratulating “the heroic fighters and the people on the big victory” in Iraq’s second-largest city.

Islamic State militants now control less than a mile of territory in the shattered city, but they are using human shields, suicide bombers and snipers in a fight to the death.

Iraq’s state TV says the country’s prime minister has arrived in Mosul to declare victory over the Islamic State group in the more than eight-month old operation to drive the militants from the city.

Al-Iraqia TV quotes Haider al-Abadi as saying he “congratulates the fighters and the people on the big victory” in the key city.

Dressed in a black uniform of a type worn by Iraqi special forces, al-Abadi was shown on Sunday as descending from a military plane and was greeted by senior security forces commanders.

Backed by the U.S.-led coalition, Iraq launched the operation to retake Mosul in October.

Iraqi state TV says government forces have driven the militants from all areas and are “chasing” them in some areas in the city.

The militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in a matter of days in the summer of 2014.

Iraqi troops are celebrating the clearing of Islamic State militants from some of their last strongholds in Mosul, but heavy fighting is still underway.

Lt. Gen. Jassim Nizal of the army’s 9th Division said Sunday his forces have achieved “victory” in the sector allotted to them, after a similar announcement by the militarized Federal Police.

Iraqi special forces are still fighting a few hundred meters (yards) away.

Nizal’s soldiers danced to patriotic music atop tanks even as airstrikes sent plumes of smoke into the air nearby.

Iraq launched the operation to retake Mosul in October.

IS now controls less than a square kilometer (mile) of territory in Mosul’s Old City, but is using human shields, suicide bombers and snipers in a fight to the death. </s> Alwaght- Iraqi forces have completely expelled ISIS terrorists from eastern Mosul, Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) chief Talib Shaghati said on Wednesday.

Lieutenant-General Talib Shaghati said the (CTS), who have spearheaded the three-month-old offensive against ISIS in the northern Iraqi city, had taken control of the eastern bank of the Tigris river that roughly divides the second largest Iraqi city.

Regular army troops were still fighting the terrorist group militants in northeast Mosul, however, according to a military statement.

"Today we celebrate ... the liberation of the eastern bank in Mosul," Shaghati told reporters in the city.

The Iraqi commander said that liberating the western half of the city, which terrorists still fully control, would be an easier task. </s> BAGHDAD — Iraq’s military says government troops are now in “full control” of eastern Mosul after routing Islamic State militants from that part of the northern Iraqi city.

Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who commands the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, says the success of the Iraqi forces is “unprecedented.”

The advance — more than three months since the operation to free Mosul started in October — comes following Iraqi troops’ push over the past days in the last IS-held neighborhoods in Mosul’s east, closing in on the Tigris River that roughly divides the city.

Mosul — Iraq’s second-largest city and the Islamic State group’s last urban stronghold in the country — fell to IS in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captures large swaths of northern and western Iraq.
The Iraqi army's chief of staff, Lt Gen Othman al-Ghanmi, states that his security forces are only days away from completing the operation to recapture Mosul from ISIL.