Iraq’s government ferrying relief supplies to Mosul

The extremist group’s new spokesman Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer, a replacement for Abu Mohammad al-Adnani whom the USA coalition killed in an air strike in August, told supporters in an audio recording not to desert Tal Afar, the town situated on the route from Mosul to Syria that Iranian-backed Shia militiamen are attacking.

The Islamic State introduced its new spokesman, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, in an audio message on Monday – and he wasted no time calling for bloodshed around the world in the terror group’s name.

The jihadist fighters hit elite Iraqi troops leading the attack in eastern Mosul in a string of counter-attacks since Friday.

In mid-October, government forces, backed by a US -led air coalition and Kurdish fighters, started a long-awaited offensive to retake Mosul from Islamic State.

Furthermore, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, better known by the Arabic name, Hashd al-Sha’abi, blew up a auto rigged with explosives as it was heading toward Upper al-Sharia village west of Tal Afar town, 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

An IS statement said the attack on the village began with a suicide vehicle bombing that killed and wounded “dozens” of militiamen. Official casualty figures aren’t available, but Iraqi army commanders acknowledge that they are unusually high compared with previous battles to take Ramadi and Fallujah, which didn’t involve the same magnitude of urban warfare.

“Abu Izzam, ISIL’s oil minister, was killed by Iraqi security forces during the operations in areas and villages East of the city of Mosul”, al-Saedi said, as quoted by FNA.

Iraqi forces members advance in the village of Arabat, south of Mosul, on December 1, 2016.

Last month, Iraq suffered thousands of deaths and injuries – including by a significant number of civilians – in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict, according to recently released figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). “They can’t hold territory for long”, an Iraqi military source told Reuters.

A USA -led coalition has bombed four of the five bridges across the river, aiming to stem a flow of suicide auto bombers from the west, targeting the army in the eastern neighborhoods.

With the Iraqi winter setting in however, civilians stuck in the city have grown more despondent, squeezed by shortages and the ever present violence.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi launched the Mosul offensive on october 17, aiming to crush Islamic State in the largest city it controls in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The Iraqi army says it has taken control of the Qadisiya 2 neighbourhood in eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants.