During a Monday visit to the frontline of the operations, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that Iraqi forces are currently attempting to close off all escape routes for the several thousand Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL) militants remaining in Mosul, Al-Alam News Network reports.
He was visiting soldiers on the day that Iraqi Special Forces stood poised to enter Mosul, in an offensive to drive out Islamic State (ISIS / Daesh / ISIL) militants after sweeping into the last village on the city’s eastern edge.
“God willing, we will chop off the snake’s head,” he said during an interview with state television. “They have no escape, they either die or surrender.”
By evening, the fighting had stopped and units took up positions less than a mile from Mosul’s eastern border and about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the center, two weeks into the offensive to retake Iraq's second-largest city.
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