Author: AFP, APWed, 2017-03-22ID: 1490126694734717900MOSUL: Iraqi forces worked to clear bombs and flush out remaining terrorists in retaken areas of west Mosul Wednesday to set the stage for an offensive against the Old City.The focus on Wednesday was on clearing the newly retaken areas and defusing bombs in booby-trapped houses, said Lt. Col. Abdulamir Al-Mohammedawi of the elite Rapid Response Division.“The liberation of the city center is a first and very important step for beginning the liberation of the Old City,” Al-Mohammedawi said, referring to an area near the Old City that Iraqi forces have recaptured in recent days.“The Old City is a very difficult area” of narrow streets and closely spaced houses, he said.Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) said Wednesday the elite Counter-Terrorism Service had recaptured the neighborhoods of Al-Mansur, Al-Shuhada Al-Oula and Al-Shuhada Al-Thaniya in west Mosul.It said soldiers and pro-government militiamen had retaken Badush prison northwest of Mosul where Daesh reportedly killed up to 600 people execution-style and also were said to hold more than 500 kidnapped Yazidi women.The JOC did not specify whether anyone was still being held at the prison when it was recaptured.But 750,000 people are believed to have remained in west Mosul.“We could not go outside because of the Daesh fighters,” said Manhal, a 28-year-old resident of Al-Danadan, a district now under Iraqi control.“Those who went out were taken hostage. The fighting was very violent. Mortar rounds fell on our roof and inside our yard,” he added.Federal police said anti-Daesh forces were now setting up defenses in recaptured areas of Mosul as they eyed the next phase.“Berms and barriers were set up to protect (the) forces and they began search operations in Al-Dawasa and Al-Danadan and Al-Agaidat areas to find (Daesh) remnants to prepare for the completion of offensive operations,” said Lt. Gen. Raed Shakir Jawdat.Meanwhile, a suicide car bombing in Baghdad killed at least 23 people on Monday and wounded 45 others, according to Iraqi officials.The attack targeted a commercial area in Baghdad’s southwestern Amil neighborhood, police and hospital officials said.
Main category: Middle-East
