ALALAM – Iraq

A military official from the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units announced on Thursday that Iraqi forces have driven out the terrorists out of the villages as part of the fifth phase of the Nineveh liberation operation during the course of three days.

Iraqi forces further managed to establish control over a key highway in the area linking Tal Afar to Tal Abta, which was being used by the ISIS terrorists as a key supply route to transport military hardware and munitions.

The development came as Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) units are reportedly just a couple of kilometers away from recapturing the entire eastern portion of the provincial capital of Mosul.

Meanwhile, the counter-terrorism forces identified and destroyed a Daesh training camp on Tuesday while on their way to liberate the city of Mosul.

CTS commander Brigadier General Haider Fadhil further declared on Tuesday that Iraqi forces had fully liberated and cleared out the al-Falah district in eastern Mosul.

Earlier, Iraqi forces announced that they had wrested control of two villages in western Tal Abtah and Tal Afar and liberated the Sanaiyah district in eastern Mosul during clashes that killed 20 Daesh militants.

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 terrorists in 2014, when the terror group began its campaign mass carnage and destruction in the Arab country. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul would be fully recaptured by the end of 2016, Press TV reported.

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