Iraqi command urges avoiding transportations in Mosul until anti-IS battle’s end

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi military media urged citizens on Tuesday to avoid means of transportation as a security precaution until the end of battles with Islamic State extremists.

The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell told citizens at areas controlled by IS to avoid using all kinds of vehicles to realize victory “with the least losses possible”.

The statement added that Islamic State members had used to seize vehicles under the pretext of evacuating civilians, while actually boarding them to wage attacks against troops.

“Our air forces will strike any vehicle moving through the streets of those district starting Monday night and until eventual liberation,” the statement said, adding that security troops would secure vehicles needed for civilians’ transportation.

Islamic State fighters are currently in control over only nine percent of territories in western Mosul, Iraqi commanders have said as operations near the recapture of the last few districts in the group’s grip.

Government troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary forces, retook eastern Mosul in January, and launched another offensive in February to retake the west.

Islamic State fighters have relied heavily on booby-trapped vehicles in their encounters with Iraqi troops and allied paramilitary forces. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in exchanged attacks by all parties of the battle.