Iraq army, allies win more ground 3 weeks into Mosul op

By Ali Shikho and Ali Jawwad

BAGHDAD (AA) – The Iraqi army and its allies continue to make gains in and around Daesh-held Mosul amid an ongoing operation -- now in its fourth week -- to oust the terrorist group from its last stronghold in northern Iraq.

In a Sunday statement, General Abdulamir Rashid Yarullah, head of the army's Nineveh Operations Command, announced that Iraqi forces had captured three villages to Mosul’s southwest and another village and district to the north of the city.

The general added that two Daesh commanders had been killed to the city’s south and east, while Iraqi forces southeast of Mosul had captured a tank and a large weapons cache from the militants.

On Oct. 18, the army, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, which Daesh overran -- along with additional territory in northern and western Iraq -- in mid-2014.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army retake much territory, especially on the outskirts of Mosul -- regional capital of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province -- and in the western province of Anbar.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 22,000 people have been displaced since the Mosul campaign began three weeks ago.