Islands near Mosul village totally purged from Islamic State remnants

Mosul (Iraqinews.com) – All islands located near Albu Saif village, south of Mosul, have been totally purged from Islamic State militants, a security source was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Baghdad Today on Tuesday, the source said, “A joint force from the Iraqi army and police, backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, launched an operation earlier to purge islands near Albu Saif village in Mosul from Islamic State remnants.”

“The troops found 28 corpses of Islamic State militants and seized a huge amount of ammunition, explosive charges and booby-trapped vehicles during the operation,” the source added.

In July, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced liberation of the second largest Iraqi city of Mosul from IS militants, who had captured it in 2014. More than 25000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.

Since the city was declared free, security troops continue to comb it for hidden IS cells. Despite the victory over IS, observers say Islamic State is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.

A government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and a U.S.-led international coalition, has been fighting the Islamic State group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in Iraq earlier this month with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.