Iraqi forces take main government complex in W. Mosul

On Sunday, there were reports of heavy clashes in western Mosul between USA -backed Iraqi forces and the ISIS militants they are trying to drive out of the city.

A special Rapid Response team stormed the Nineveh governorate building and the surrounding government complex in an overnight raid that lasted about an hour, a spokesman said.

Doctors in an urgent care hospital in the nearby city of Irbil say they began receiving patients showing symptoms of chemical weapons exposure on Thursday.

Eastern Mosul was retaken by government forces in January 2017, after 100 days of conflict. His unit then pulled back to a base on the edge of Mosul’s Tayran neighborhood, and the clashes were still underway at the complex later Tuesday.

“We now don’t have presence nor the ability to pressure the area”, Townsend said.

In Syria, US-backed forces cut a key IS supply route between Raqa and Deir Ezzor province.

Mosul is divided by the Tigris River, and while the series of bridges crossing it have either been damaged or destroyed, they would provide a link between the Iraqi government-held east and Daesh-held west Mosul if they can be repaired or otherwise bridged.

More than 40,000 people have been displaced in the last week from Mosul.

Local media reported that mortar fire launched from western Mosul hit houses in the east of the city and some residents complained of a foul-smelling chemical. It was unclear if al-Abadi visited the western part of Mosul.

The Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV aired live footage showing thick black smoke nearly covering the sky amid a heavy exchange of fire.

The footage also shows the city’s iconic 840-year-old “Crooked Minaret”, which leans somewhat like Italy’s Tower of Pisa.

Iraqi soldiers have discovered an underground ISIS training camp located in an abandoned rail tunnel, complete with obstacle course, shooting range, religious teaching area, and medical clinic.

Displaced Iraqis flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, in western Mosul.

In Dawasa, as well as Shuhada and Mansour neighborhoods in the city’s southwest, Iraqi military and police are battling the Islamic State street by street, block by block.

Citing data collected by the research firm IHS Markit, Reuters reports “the Islamic State used chemical weapons at least 52 times in Iraq and Syria and at least 19 times in the areas around Mosul between 2014 and November 2016”.

The operation for west Mosul has made significant progress, but has been somewhat hampered by bad weather conditions.