A senior commander says Iraqi militarized police have captured a neighborhood on the western side of Mosul amid fierce clashes with Islamic State militants.
Major General Haider al-Maturi of the Federal Police Commandos Division told The Associated Press that his troops entered the Tayaran neighborhood Sunday morning and it is now “under their full control.’’
Al-Maturi said Islamic State militants deployed at least 10 suicide car bombs, but nine of them were blown up before reaching their targets. The 10th killed two policemen and wounded five.
Iraqi forces, backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led international coalition, already control eastern Mosul. Iraq’s second largest city is split roughly in half by the Tigris River.
Earlier, Iraqi military officials said U.S.-backed forces are facing a stiffer resistance as soldiers push deeper into the western half of the city, the last refuge of IS in Iraq.
Source: VOA News Online
