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Iraqi Gov't forces continue advancing in Mosul

IRBIL, April 22 (KUNA) -- Iraqi regular forces, braving sniper fire and recurring suicide attacks by anti-government Islamic militants in Mosul, have continued advancing in the battle-scarred city.
Troops of the anti-terrorism squad have taken over Al-Sahha district in the western half of the city, roughly 300 kms north of the capital Baghdad, hoisting the national flag atop buildings in the liberated area, said Lieut. Gen. Abdulamir Yarallah, commander of the government military operation against the so-called Islamic State (IS), in a statement on Saturday.
The same squad, fighting the IS in Mosul along with army troops and pro-government paramilitary forces, captured the district of Al-Thawra and Al-Naser in the city western sector, last Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lieu. Gen. Raed Jawdat, chief of the police forces also engaged in the anti-IS battle, said in a statement that the police officers killed, on Friday, 18 IS warriors, knocked out eight explosives-rigged vehicles and defused 55 explosives in Al-Thawra district.
The government troops and allied fighters, backed by the international coalition, started a wide-scale battle to liberate Mosul's western part, on February 19, after liberating the left side on January 24.
According to TV footages, Mosul has turned into a ghost city, except for movement by the fighters. Many of the city buildings have been charred due to explosions and black smoke often billows into the skies from the spots where the two sides battle at close range and fire from one house to another.
A large number of Mosul's civilian residents have fled the city, but some have remained in their houses, chancing to survive the bloody violence.
The military announced yesterday that the government forces had liberated Al-Nasr district, and that a number of senior IS chiefs had been killed in the fighting.
Among those killed in the battle for control of Mosul is a relative of the IS top chief, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, in addition to the top man in charge of chemical warfare, known by his nome de guerre "Abu Ahmad ghas (gas)." The IS had been driven out of wide swaths of lands in central and western Iraq in the major battle waged by the government to rid the nation of the notorious organization, whose chief had declared a self-styled "Islamic caliphate." The IS, known in Arabic as "Daesh," is notorious for brutal killing means, horrific torturing and burning hostages to death. (end) sbr.nbs.rk