Media reports: Mosul to be fully liberated by next week
The Islamic State will be entirely eradicated from its de facto capital in Mosul by next week, a senior general operating in Iraq said Thursday.
The Iraqi security forces have surrounded the terrorist group’s final enclave in Mosul’s Old City, western media reported, saying roughly 300 ISIS militants are estimated to remain in Mosul.
According to The Washington Free Beacon reports, the militant group still maintains strangleholds in northern Iraq, including Tal Afar, and in the western province of Anbar.
Iraqi forces have faced violent resistance in Mosul in recent days, particularly as militants ramp up suicide bombings in a desperate attempt to hold off defeat. Iraqi commanders told the Associated Press earlier this week that ISIS women are hiding among groups of civilians to target government forces through suicide attacks.
Iraqi troops are now some 270 yards from the Tigris River, which divides eastern and western Mosul. The eastern half of the city was liberated in in January and has begun moving toward a sense of normalcy with the return of residents and businesses.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated his forces on a "big victory" in Mosul on Tuesday, but the nearly nine-month battle to retake the city continues. The United Nations estimates that up to 20,000 civilians are trapped in the Old City neighborhood and warns they are in "extreme danger."
Between 2,000 and 3,500 people are fleeing the violence each day, according to the United Nations. The U.S.-led operation to retake Mosul began and October and has already displaced some 87,000 people.