Leader of the Daesh terror group Abu Bakr Baghdadi is still hiding in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Iraqi Kurdistan’s President Masoud Barzani, said.

“Baghdadi is there and, if he is killed, it will mean the collapse of the whole [Daesh] system,” Hussein told the Independent media outlet on Tuesday citing Iraqi government sources.

He noted that after Baghdadi’s death Daesh terrorists would have to choose a new leader amid the ongoing battle for Mosul but any new leader would not have authority and prestige of Baghdadi.

Hussein also said that the presence of Baghdadi in Mosul would complicate the operation aimed at liberation of the city as Daesh terrorists would fight to death to defend their leader. “It is obvious that they will lose, but not how long this will take to happen,” he added. T

he operation to retake Mosul from Daesh, a jihadist group outlawed in a large number of countries, has been ongoing since October 17. More than 30,000 Iraqi and 4,000 Kurdish fighters are taking part in the offensive supported by US-led coalition airstrikes. Mosul has been occupied by Daesh since 2014.

sputniknews.com

Iraqi security forces renewed clashes with ISIS militants across Mosul streets. The fighting is the first to take place after successfully breaking into the terror group’s stronghold.

As the offensive advances, Iraqi forces have locked control over the Kokjla area, located in eastern Mosul.
Counterterrorism forces raised the national flag over the Mosul’s state TV building as a sign of securing victory over the extremist gunmen in the neighborhood.

Special forces entered the eastern outskirts of the city earlier Tuesday, marking the first time Iraqi troops have set foot in Mosul since 2014.

A top military official at the taskforces headquarters along with other eyewitnesses said that ISIS terrorists have strategically installed snipers across rooftops hoping to slowdown the advance of Iraqi forces across residential areas.

One of the Quds neighborhood residents, in Mosul’s eastern vicinity, says that ISIS fire is visible to the naked eye, as it strikes Iraqi forces and vehicles in alleyways. The clashes have been downgraded to backstreet fighting, added the Iraqi citizen.

More so, the U.N. human rights office lauded efforts by the U.S.-led coalition in the battle against ISIS in Mosul.

The office in Geneva said that coalition flights over Iraq have largely succeeded in preventing ISIS from bringing in 25,000 civilians from ISIS-held areas into the city, where the militant group has been using people as human shields as Iraqi forces advance on Mosul.

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Tuesday cited unspecified reports of ISIS sending trucks and minibuses to Hamam al-Alil, south of Mosul, from where it was to bring people in.

She said coalition strikes along roadways largely prevented the transfer toward Mosul, forcing the trucks to turn back. She added some minibuses reached Abusaif along the way to Mosul.

Shamdasani also told reporters in Geneva that her office received new reports of “mass killings” by ISIS, including on Saturday of 40 former Iraqi security force members whose bodies were thrown into the Tigris River.

aawsat.com

farsnews.com

With the war raging on for control of Mosul, Isis is now planting booby traps using children’s toys and everyday items

Mosul has been a battleground for a while now with a raging war between Isis and Iraqi forces. A few days ago it was reported that Isis was using thousands of people as ‘human shields’ and now it’s said that the group is using children’s toys to hide bombs.

A report in The Daily Mail states that the Isis’ latest ploy is to use to hide bombs in kids’ toys and teddy bears. As soon as these toys are touched, the bomb or improvised explosive device (IED) would detonate. So, it looks like Isis is targeting children now as well.

Colonel Nawzad Kamil Hassan, an engineer with the Kurdish army, and his unit reportedly cleared some 50 tonnes of explosives in the last two years in areas that controlled by Isis. He was quoted as telling the Observer, “Why would Isis use something nice, like a bear or a rabbit? They used this toy because they know the peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) will not touch it but children will. They are not even animals. They are worse than animals.”

There have been other commonly used items which have been used as booby traps. Playing cards, watches and hosepipes have been used to detonate bombs in order to defend themselves. Even a pile of old clothes, pile of rubble and stones or piece of plywood have been used to detonate these crude bombs.

The Mosul offensive

At this point, more than 40,000 soldiers are preparing to surround Mosul, which has been under Isis control, to cut them off from the outside world. Reports say that there are about 5000 Isis fighters inside Mosul and between 1,500 and 2,500 around the city. It is believed that 1,000 of these fighters are foreign nationals as well.

ibtimes.co.in

Iran on Monday denied as “sheer lies” allegations that it supports the Taliban group in Afghanistan, official IRNA news agency reported.

“The allegations about Iran’s support to Taliban are sheer lies, false and irrelevant,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said, reacting to a Taliban official’s recent comments.

Al-Arabia reported on Sunday that Mullah Zabihullah, the official spokesman of the “Afghan Taliban” and the second man in the movement, has revealed the group’s presence of relations and new networks with Iran.

“The movement is trying to benefit from all legitimate means to reach a regional agreement as part of the war against the American invasion,” Zabihullah was quoted as saying. “The Imara (Taliban) holds ongoing networks with a large number of regional and neighboring states.”

Qasemi, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, dismissed the report, saying that Taliban claims are preplanned scenarios by the supporters of terrorism to spread Iranophobia.

“The Islamic republic has always been the forerunner in the fight against terrorist groups and has paid the due costs,” Qasemi said.

xinhuanet.com

Iraqi special forces advanced on the ISIS-held city of Mosul from the east on Monday, taking heavy fire but inching closer to the city’s limits.

Car bombers are trying to stop the advance, but the troops, just two miles (three kilometers) from Mosul’s eastern outskirts, aim to enter it later in the day, Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil said.

The dawn assault saw armored vehicles, including Abrams tanks, move on the village of Bazwaya as allied artillery and airstrikes hit ISIS positions, drawing mortar and small arms fire.

For two weeks, Iraqi forces and their Kurdish allies, Sunni tribesmen and Shiite militias have been converging on Mosul from all directions to drive ISIS from Iraq’s second largest city. The operation is expected to take weeks, if not months.

Since the offensive began on Oct. 17, Iraqi forces moving toward the city have made uneven progress. Advances have been slower in the south, with government forces there still 20 miles (35 kilometers) from the city.

The U.S. military estimates ISIS has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters inside Mosul and another 1,500-2,500 in the city’s outer defensive belt. The total number includes around 1,000 foreign fighters.

A day earlier, thousands of fighters flocked to join Iraq’s state-sanctioned, Iran-backed Shiite militias who are to cut off Mosul from the west. In a series of apparent retaliation attacks, suicide bombers on Sunday struck in Baghdad’s mostly Shiite neighborhoods, killing at least 17 people.

The deadliest of the bombings, a parked car bomb, hit a popular fruit and vegetable market near a school in the northwestern Hurriyah area, killing at least 10 and wounding 34. On Monday, ISIS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.

time.com/

One person was killed and at least 30 injured as a result of a militants’ chemical attack in southwestern Aleppo, according to Al Mayadeen TV-channel reported. All injured people are civilians, according to Al Mayadeen.

Earlier on Sunday, a member of local militia told RIA Novosti that terrorists used chemical weapons during attacks against Syrian army’s positions in Aleppo’s south-west using rockets with poisonous gas.

Al-Nusra Front terrorists and some Syrian rebel groups launched an offensive in Aleppo’s south-west on Friday. For three days, terrorists have been attacking Syrian army’s units. Two attacks have been so far repelled; Syrian government forces managed to retake their positions in the 1070 district overnight.

Militants have also been shelling residential areas in western and central parts of Aleppo since Friday. According to medical workers, at least 15 people were killed and 150 wounded.

On Saturday, militants in Aleppo carried out attacks on the Al-Asad military academy and Bustan az-Zakhra district. Heavy fighting continues near the academy with armored vehicles’ detonation and suicide bombers’ attacks as part of the terrorists’ offensive.

According to Syrian military intelligence data, during a few days of the humanitarian pause in Aleppo, militants have redeployed some 8,000 fighters to the city’s south and north. If terrorists gain control over the Al-Asad military academy, the whole western part of Aleppo will be under threat of militants’ fire.

axisoflogic.com

iran-daily.com