US-led coalition kills 5 Daesh commanders in E. Mosul

By Amer al-Hassani

BAGHDAD (AA) - Five Daesh commanders, including the group’s "governor" for the city of Mosul, were killed by airstrikes carried out by a U.S.-led coalition in the city’s western districts, according to the Iraqi army.

"Relying on military intelligence, the coalition struck Daesh positions in Mosul’s western 17 Tammoz district," the army’s media office said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

According to the statement, three senior Daesh militants were killed in the strike, including Hamed Ahmed Ibrahim, who the terrorist group had reportedly appointed as "Wali" -- or governor -- of Mosul.

"Another two Daesh commanders were killed in a separate airstrike in Mosul’s western Al-Sarjkhana district," the army statement read.

Late Wednesday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Iraqi forces were "on the verge of defeating" Daesh in Mosul.

Al-Abadi made the remarks at a meeting held with leaders of the Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella of mostly Shia fighting groups recently incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces.

"We are in the final stages of defeating Daesh," the prime minister said, going on to condemn what he described as recent "defamatory" remarks about the Hashd al-Shaabi by the group’s critics.

In recent days, more than 6,000 displaced Iraqi civilians have returned to their homes in parts of eastern Mosul recently recaptured from Daesh.

Iraqi forces have driven Daesh militants from most of eastern Mosul as part of a wide-ranging offensive launched last October to retake the city, which the terrorist group overran in mid-2014.