ALALAM – Iraq

"Hashd al-Shaabi seized back the villages of Ashvah (West of Tal Abta) and Husein Joma'a (West of Tal Afar) as the Iraqi volunteer forces were chasing the fleeing ISIS terrorists," Hashd al-Shaabi media center reported on Tuesday.

The Iraqi volunteer forces also destroyed two bomb-laden vehicles of the ISIL terrorists near Ashvah village and before the terrorists could explode them to inflict losses on the Iraqi forces.

On Monday, the Iraqi forces managed to liberate several villages near Mosul from the grip of the ISIS terrorist group as part of larger operations to fully recapture the city in Nineveh province.

The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said Hashd al-Shaabi, purged six villages, West of the city, of ISIL terrorists.

The Iraqi general added that ISIL terrorists lost the villages of Hazimiyah al-Janubiyah, Moshayrfat al-Jisr, Zaid al-Mos’ab, Yassin al-Halbous, Tal Maidan Qoly and al-Bota al-Gharbiyah.

Some 450 families were also evacuated from Yassin al-Halbous village, west of Tal Abta district.

The terrorists suffered heavy losses in the military operations, the report added.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s al-Summeria news website said the Iraqi Badr Organization announced the liberation of three other villages west of Mosul.

The organization said in a statement on Sunday that that the villages of Tal Ghazal, Tal Majan and Shwira have been purged of ISIL, adding that Iraqi forces managed to thwart a terrorist attack targeting the troops advancing in the area.

It added that 163 civilians have been evacuated from the villages.

The Iraqi forces also found a workshop for booby-trapping vehicles and explosive devices in the liberated villages.

The developments come as part of operations launched by Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi forces in the areas to the west of Tal Afar in western Nineveh Province on Sunday. The operations aim to purge the villages and areas which are still under ISIL control and to regain control of the roads connecting the areas west of Mosul.

The Iraqi army and volunteer fighters have been leading a large offensive to retake Mosul since October 17.

The Northern city of Mosul fell to ISIS in 2014, when the terror outfit began its campaign of death and destruction in the Arab country.

Also on Sunday, Iraq’s anti-terrorism forces took control of the neighborhood of Nour in the left bank of Mosul.

It was reported on Monday that the ISIL terrorists, along with their families, began to flee the neighborhood of al-Zera’i, al-Mohandessin and al-Thaqafi in northern Mosul towards the right side of the city.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul would be fully recaptured by the end of 2016, FNA reported.

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