Iraqis advance in Mosul as bomb south of Baghdad kills 21

A soldier from the Iraqi Special Forces takes a selfie on a street in the Aden district of Mosul after troops nearly entirely retook the area from Islamic State (IS) group jihadists on November 22, 2016. Only the city’s oldest bridge remains.

The PMU said the crucial Mosul-Raqqa route had finally been shut.

The coalition coordinates all strikes with the Iraqi government ahead of time, Dorrian explained.

Al-Jaafari says 62,000 refugees have left the city — much fewer than was expected by authorities — and that Iraq is “prepared to receive many more”.

Iraqi Omar Al holds his dead daughter Amira, who was just 15 months when she was killed by an ISIS mortar shell at al-Tahrir in Mosul.

The Iraqi troops are expected to use US -made pontoon bridges when they need to cross the Tigris later in the campaign.

“The joining of these forces greatly reduces the freedom of movement of ISIL insurgents in and out of Mosul”, said Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the USA -led coalition, referring to Islamic State.

But the presence of civilians has prevented the US -backed Iraqi forces from using overwhelming force, slowing their advance.

“The militants launched nine suicide auto bombing attacks when we were trying to take that street”, said Mohammed who fought against IS since October 31, pointing at the crossroad about 50 meters away where nearby houses were destroyed.

Federal forces have already entered the city from the east.

Though Wednesday’s advancement marks the latest achievement in the USA -backed coalition’s offensive, it once again raises questions of how the coalition’s make-up – a mix of Shia, Kurdish and Christian paramilitary groups along with federal forces – will factor into redrawn territory decisions and the safe passage of civilians once the city falls.

Following the previous update reported by Jobs & Hire, the morale of the ISIS forces is slowly eroding with the successful blow dealt by the skull-faced Golden Division commandos and the anonymous Sniper of Mosul.

ISIS had been able to send resources from its heartland, Raqqa in Syria – including fighters, suicide squads and explosives – to Mosul through this route.

Mortars, artillery and automatic fire were used in the fighting, which prompted dozens of families to flee their homes to the safety of centers set up for displaced civilians away from front-line neighborhoods, according to an AP team in Mosul. “One of the challenges we face.is the presence of civilians”.

“This is one of the worst humanitarian crises of the year”.

Asked on IRGC’ response to possible violation of JCPOA by US, Jafari said IRGC is a part of Iranian government and would follow and support the decisions made by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, the government and the Parliament.

“Families have been unable to access clean drinking water, or enough food, children haven’t been going to school – the education system was essentially closed down”.

The experts believe IS moved the materials and its chemical weapons specialists out of Mosul ahead of the Iraqi offensive, but may still use crude chemical weapons like chlorine and mustard agents as the troops press deeper into the city. His men were in control of about half the neighborhood by Wednesday afternoon, he said.