Coalition: Soon Mosul will be liberated
Iraqi forces locked in the last couple of blocks West of Mosul that are still under the control of ISIS. The seizure of Mosul is inevitable, but the battle is very difficult, and the days and weeks go by, said on Thursday the representative of the Syrian coalition, Ryan Dillon from Baghdad, confirmed that the Iraqi forces captured the mosque and minaret.
The seizure of the great mosque of al-Nuri, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the Caliphate of ISIS in 2014 - marks an important step in the 8-month battle to capture the city, the largest metropolis of Iraq outside of Baghdad. The representative of the Iraqi military said that Iraqi forces have cleared the perimeter of the mosque where ISIS placed landmines. The Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi declared victory and promised to hunt ISIS up until every fighter is killed or brought to justice.
ISIS remains in the Old city of Mosul and in a hospital complex, said the coalition representative Dillon. The coalition stated that in Mosul this week there were only "couple of hundred" ISIS fighters. The head of the counter-terrorism service of Iraq the General-Lieutenant Talib Sagati said that in a few days ISIS will be forced out of Mosul. As soon as ISIS goes, explosives in the area will be cleared so civilians could return.
The UN said that civilians remaining on the line LIH, has no access to clean water and medicine, and many of them have limited access to food. Thousands of children remained trapped in Western Mosul, said on Thursday the representative of UNICEF in Iraq, Peter Hawkins.
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