UPDATE - 3 days into Mosul op, 350 km sq ‘liberated’ from Daesh

By Jamal al-Badrani, Ali Jawad and Idris Okuducu

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraqi forces have "liberated" 352 square kilometers of territory south of Mosul since a wide-ranging military operation began earlier this week to recapture the city from the Daesh terrorist group, an Iraqi police commander said Wednesday.

Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a much-anticipated offensive late Sunday to retake Mosul -- Daesh’s last stronghold in northern Iraq, which was overrun by the terrorist group in mid-2014.

"Iraqi forces have managed to clear 352 square kilometers [of Daesh elements] since the operation began," Federal Police Commander Lieutenant-General Raed Shakir said in statements cited by the Interior Ministry.

No further details were given by the commander regarding particular areas cleared of Daesh elements.

According to Amin al-Zubaidi, a first lieutenant in the army’s Nineveh Joint Operations Command, 13 Daesh militants were killed in Mosul on Wednesday -- including a prominent group leader -- in a drone strike carried out by U.S.-led coalition aircraft.

"Intelligence provided by our sources inside Mosul indicates that Abu Sarah, a Daesh leader in charge of military planning, was killed -- along with a number of other militants -- in a coalition drone strike," al-Zubaidi told Anadolu Agency.

The strike, he added, had occurred Wednesday morning in Mosul’s Dawasa area on the bank of the Tigris River, which runs through the city.

Commenting on the operation’s progress on the ground, al-Zubaidi said Iraqi forces were encountering numerous obstacles as they advanced on the city.

"Explosive devices and booby traps planted by Daesh are impeding the progress of our armed forces," he said.

In a related development, at least 200 civilians in Mosul are now being held hostage by Daesh militants, a local official said Wednesday.

"Fifteen Daesh militants were killed after they were attacked by local residents in Mosul’s southern Haman al-Alil district," Mosul-based Kurdish politician Said Memozini told Anadolu Agency.

"The terrorist group later reinforced its presence in the area and rounded up about 200 civilians suspected of having taken part in the uprising," he added.

In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul -- Iraq’s second-largest city -- before overrunning large swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and a U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory. Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.

In recent weeks, the army and its allies have staged a gradual advance on the city, which officials in Baghdad have vowed to recapture by year’s end.