Iraq

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Probe Launched Into Civilian Casualties in 1st Foreign Raid Approved by Trump
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702021050278755-trump-foreign-raid-casualties/

The casualties which "may include children" were likely caused by the covering aerial fire on December 29.

Locals Knew About 'Secret' US Raid Long Before Troops Arrived.

US Raid Destroyed Most of Yemen Village, FM Blasts ‘Extrajudicial Killing’
_http://news.antiwar.com/2017/02/01/us-raid-destroyed-most-of-yemen-village-fm-blasts-extrajudicial-killing/

The weekend raid by SEAL Team 6 forces into Yemen to target what was described as “al-Qaeda headquarters,” was championed by the administration as a great success in the initial wake of it, but subsequent accounts have instead shown a complete disaster, with losses among the attack US forces and substantial harm to civilians, virtually destroying the entire village and leading Yemen’s Foreign Minister to fault the attack as “extrajudicial killings.”

The attack on the village of Yakla didn’t target a “headquarters,” but rather the home of a person the US believed was an al-Qaeda “collaborator.” This would explain why the named casualties from reports were all from the same family, the in-laws of US-born cleric Anwar Awlaki, whose 8-year-old daughter was slain in the raid.

The raid was scheduled for a night with no moon to make the multi-mile ground raid into the village a total surprise. Locals knew long before the troops got there, however, saying there were more US surveillance drones than usual and they were flying lower than would be normal long before the attack. The SEALs knew their mission was compromised but went in anyway.

Without the element of surprise, locals had set up a substantial defense, taking up positions around the village. As troops attacked and called in airstrikes, women started picking up weapons and opening fire on the SEALs as well, leading to more airstrikes.

This turned a “secret” raid on one guy’s house into the obliteration of almost the whole village, and despite Pentagon claims of “14 al-Qaeda fighters killed,” local estimates put the overall death toll around 57, with a lot of women and children shot to death as the fighting went from bad to worse.

Though the administration is holding out hope that data seized during the raid will somehow vindicate the operation, the fact that the targeted “headquarters” was actually just a personal residence of a collaborator with an al-Qaeda affiliate makes hopes of a bin Laden-level of intelligence unlikely in the extreme.

 

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The US military operation against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen carried out over the weekend had never been under consideration by the administration of former president Barack Obama, former National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said via Twitter.

Ex-NSC Spokesman Refutes Claim That Obama Administration OKed US Raid in Yemen
https://sputniknews.com/us/201702031050296089-nsc-obama-not-consider-yemen-raid/

Earlier on Thursday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer stated that the operation was first planned by the Obama administration, approved by the Defense Department on December 19 and recommended to move ahead to the National Security Council.

"Except it was misleading," Price stated, adding that the specific operation was never considered by the Obama administration for approval.

​US Special Operations Forces killed 14 al-Qaeda militants in the course of the operation, according to the White House. During the operation, the terrorists killed US Navy SEAL William Owens and injured several other servicemen.

On Wednesday, US Central Command said in a press release that civilians may have been killed during the operation.

A top Daesh leader was killed Friday during an airstrike conducted in the northeast of Iraq, local media reported, citing local sources.

Senior Daesh Leader Reportedly Killed During Airstrike in Northeastern Iraq
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702031050312956-daesh-airsrike-iraq/

According to the IraqiNews online newspaper, the Daesh militant was known as Abu Suhaid, and was the son-in-law of so-called Daesh governor of Hawi al-Adhaim, a town 63 kilometers (over 39 miles) north of Iraq’s Baqubah.

The airstrike targeted the region of Mutaibija, the newspaper added, but the party responsible for the bombing could not be identified.

The news comes amid the Mosul operation aimed to liberate the city from the Daesh forces which started in October 2016. The operation is jointly conducted by the Iraqi military, Iraqi Kurds and the US-led coalition. The eastern part of the city has been recaptured from terrorists.

 

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About That Intel 'Treasure Trove' From Trump's Yemen Raid...
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/peace-and-prosperity/2017/february/03/about-that-intel-treasure-trove-from-trumps-yemen-raid/

Shortly after the President Trump-authorized commando raid on Yemen, Fox News led the mainstream media in reporting on the great "treasure trove" of intelligence that was seized at the compound. With the claimed killing of a senior al-Qaeda official, the mission was proclaimed a success.

Soon the initial triumphalist reporting on the raid gave way to a much darker reality: an American was killed, millions of dollars in US military equipment destroyed, at least a dozen innocent women and children were killed, US military cover had been blown before the attack, the mission was poorly planned, the mission had been turned down twice by President Obama only to be dusted off by President Trump, and so on.

Worse, the raid was probably not on a hardened al-Qaeda compound, as Centcom claimed, but, as the Telegraph writes, on a ramshackle, impoverished village:

But information from US military officials speaking on condition of anonymity, human rights groups and sources on the ground build a different, contradictory, picture, in which massive fire power was brought to bear on a ramshackle village against targets of limited importance in the so called 'war on terror.'

By this account, the reinforced al-Qaeda 'headquarters' was a two room residence crammed in among other houses in the village; the 'determined enemies.' which the Pentagon said included women in 'prepared fighting positions' were scared residents firing weapons into the night in panic; and the value of the intelligence gathered is still being assessed.

And what about that treasure trove of intelligence?

Facing increasing pressure over the botched raid, the Pentagon earlier today released a video titled “Courses for Destroying The Cross,” to prove just how important was the cache that had been seized.

But the botched part of the botched raid kept botching. It turns out that, as the Telegraph put it, the "video released by Pentagon to prove Donald Trump's deadly Yemen raid was successful is a decade old and available online."

So this valuable information could have been been retrieved by a guy with a laptop on YouTube and tens of millions of dollars as well as scores of innocent lives spared. That is why US interventionism is a bad idea. It produces bad results.

We can only hope that the young Trump Administration will learn from this black eye and very quickly retreat from its increasingly aggressive positioning in the Middle East. A president elected on the promise that he would start no new wars is swaggering us into something his panting advisors cannot, in their blind enthusiasm, even imagine.

 

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The wife of a known Daesh terrorist committed suicide by setting herself on fire in the western part of Mosul, a local source in Nineveh province, Iraq told Sputnik Arabic.

Wife of Infamous Daesh Terrorist Sets Herself on Fire in Western Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702081050471241-wife-daesh-sets-herself-fire-mosul/

The woman, Nahla was originally from the village of al-Hud near the town of Qayyarah south of Mosul. She together with her husband and four sons were members of Daesh ranks.

The reported reason for her suicide was because her son Us lost his leg during an air strike by the international coalition.

Recently, Daesh terrorists have sustained heavy losses as the Iraqi army with the support of the international coalition has managed to liberate eastern Mosul.

However, despite their liberation the residents clearly remember the cruelty and mercilessness of Daesh and Nahla’s family.

They subjected the local residents to horrific torture. The woman together with her family members had killed hundreds of civilians in the town of Qayyarah.

According to accounts of the local residents, Daesh regularly tortured children as well. Female Daesh members were as cruel as male and they kidnapped young girls to torture them and sell them into slavery.

Last week, the charity Save the Children said that about 350,000 children are currently trapped in the western part of Mosul, ahead of the anti-terror operation.

"An estimated 350,000 children are trapped in siege-like conditions under ISIS [Daesh] control in western Mosul, risking summary execution by militants if they try to flee, as Iraqi and coalition forces look set to cross the River Tigris and advance deeper into the city," the statement said.

Furthermore, Mosul residents had to adhere to a strict dress code. Women had to keep their bodies covered with all-black clothes and cover their faces with veils two layers thick that obstructed breathing. Many women were not able to leave their homes for months.

Daesh members roamed the streets to ensure compliance with the rules, with the power to issue fines or lashes in punishment.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said six of its staff have been killed and two are missing in northern Afghanistan.

Six Red Cross Staff Killed, Two Missing in North Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702081050464547-icrc-afghanistan-killed/

The situation in Afghanistan has significantly deteriorated in recent months. the country is suffering from the activity of the Taliban, a militant group formed in the 1990s, seeking to establish Sharia law in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and from other terrorist groups including the Daesh, banned in Russia and many other countries.

"We confirm that six ICRC staff were killed and two are missing in Jawzjan province," the Red Cross said in a Twitter post, saying that it planned to issue a statement later.

Six Afghan Red Cross Workers Killed by suspected ISIL the country to areas hit by deadly snow storms, government officials said.

Six Afghan Red Cross Workers Killed by Suspected ISIL Militants
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951120001480

Another two employees were unaccounted for after the attack in Jowzjan province, ICRC spokesman Thomas Glass said, but the aid group said it did not know who was responsible, Irish Times reported.

The aid workers were in a convoy carrying supplies to areas hit by avalanches when they were attacked by suspected Islamic State gunmen, Lotfullah Azizi, the Jowzjan provincial governor, told reporters.

"ISIL is very active in that area," he said referring to the terror group which has made limited inroads in Afghanistan but has carried out increasingly deadly attacks.

Jawzjan police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani said the workers' bodies had been brought to the provincial capital and a search operation launched to find the two missing ICRC employees.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said his group was not involved in the attack and promised that Taliban members would "put all their efforts into finding the perpetrators".

Yemen called off the permission for US Special Operations anti-terror ground missions, US media reported.

Yemen Rescinds Permission for US Counter-Terror Ground Missions
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702081050451117-yemen-rescinds-usa-operations/

Yemeni authorities made their decision after last month's raid, which resulted in civilian casualties, The New York Times newspaper reported, citing US officials.

On January 29, the US Special Forces launched a raid in Yemen, killing 14 al-Qaeda militants as well as civilians, including an 8-year-old daughter of previously assassinated al-Qaeda leader Anwar Awlaki. The raid reportedly targeted al-Qaeda leader Qassim Rimi.

Iraqi army generals and media services said Wednesday the country's security forces killed 26 ISIL militants in separate locations in Mosul, while bringing down drones guided by the terror group.

Iraqi Army Shoots down ISIL Drones, Kills 26 Militants in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951120001657

The security forces shot down three ISIL-guided drones that were heading to bomb civilians in the districts of al-Zohour, al-Masaref, al-Seddiq and al-Sukkar North of Mosul," said Col. Adel al-Jubouri, from the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Bas News reported.

Government forces had recaptured those districts from ISIL as part of operations between mid October and January 24th that drove extremists out of Eastern Mosul.

The ISIL terrorist group has burnt alive 10 civilians in Southern Mosul on substantiated charges of cooperation with the Iraqi army forces, a security source revealed on Wednesday

ISIL Burns Alive 10 Civilians for Cooperation with Iraqi Army
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951120001558

Colonel Khalid al-Jawari, a commander of the Nineveh province liberation operation, was quoted as saying by al-Qods al-Arabi newspaper that the civilians were burnt in Wadi al-Hajar region for allegedly establishing ties with the Iraqi forces through cell phones.

Also, residents of Mosul announced on Wednesday that the ISIL has executed 7 of its members near the fifth bridge in Western Mosul for escaping from the terrorist group's hidden base in the region.

Relevant reports about the ISIL crimes in Iraq also said on Tuesday that the kidneys of 45 patients were stolen by the ISIL militants in the hospitals located on the right side of Mosul, Iraqi media said.

The reports cited an informed but unidentified source saying that the extremists have not only stolen the kidneys of civilian patients but even those of their own members.

The source also said that the civilian victims who turn to hospitals for surgery are shocked when they find out that instead of the intended surgery for them, their kidneys were taken away. ISIL uses its own surgeons for organ thefts, according to the source who added that the organization has an agreement with mafia and human organs trafficking nets and funds its operations by selling human organs.

The Yemeni army's artillery units pounded the gathering centers of the Saudi-backed militants in Ta'iz province, killing and injuring several militias.

Saudi-Backed Militias' Concentration Centers Come Under Yemen's Artillery Attacks
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951120001006

The Saudi-backed militias' concentration centers in Hamir district in the town of Maqbaneh sustained heavy losses in the Yemeni forces' artillery attacks on Tuesday night.

There is yet no report on the exact number of casualties on the part of the Riyadh-backed militants in Hamir district, but similar attacks by the Yemeni forces usually leave heavy losses and casualties on the Saudi-backed troops.

The Yemeni forces targeted and destroyed a military vehicle of the Saudi-backed militias in al-Hamra hilltop in Maqbaneh region as well.

In a relevant development on Tuesday, the Yemeni popular forces killed three Saudi-paid mercenaries in Sana'a province's Nihm district.

The mercenaries were killed when a guided missile hit the military vehicle carrying them, local media quoted a military official as saying on Wednesday.

The Saudi forces invaded residents of al-Awamiyah region in Eastern province, shelling the house of a martyr in al-Jamimah district.

Saudi Army Raids People in Awamiyah Region in Eastern Province
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951119001517

Local sources said that the Saudi army fired indiscriminate cannon shells at the house of martyr Mursi al-Rabah who was killed by the security forces.

Meantime, social media activists in Awamiyah announced on their twitter pages that the Saudi forces wanted to arrest a member of martyr al-Rabah family.

They added that the move was made after the Saudi military men destroyed al-Mousawarah village, the birthplace of late cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Late last month, a large number of people in Eastern Saudi Arabia had staged protest rallies and set up tents in certain districts of Awamiyah region to voice support for residents of al-Mousawarah village.

Also in January, people in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite-populated Qatif region poured into streets to mark the first anniversary of the execution of prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr by the Saudi regime.

The rally was held in al-Awamiyah village in Eastern Province, and the protesters carried photos of Sheik Nimr and placards in condemnation of the Saudi regime, chanting the slogan “Sheikh Nimr is always alive”. They also condemned the kingdom for executing the cleric on fabricated charges.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the country's security forces are monitoring movements of the “isolated” chief of ISIL terrorist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Abadi: Iraq ‘Monitoring’ Movements of 'Isolated' ISIL Leader
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951119001324

“He’s almost alone at the moment. He doesn’t have many people to trust. He is in isolation, we’re monitoring his movements,” Abadi said in an interview with the France 24 television channel, presstv reported.

He stressed that Baghdadi is keeping a very low profile. “His communication with other terrorists is very low. In many times, it is almost nonexistent.”

The prime minister, however, declined to reveal any details of Baghdadi’s whereabouts.

Answering a question whether Baghdadi was still in the Northern city of Mosul, the group’s last stronghold on Iraqi soil, Abadi smiled and said, “I’m not commenting on it.” He also noted that most of the Baghdadi’s aides had been “killed and eliminated” in recent operations.

 

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Kata’ib Seyyed al-Shuhada popular forces announced on Saturday foiling an attack launched by the ISIL group, West of the city of Mosul, while pointed out to the killing of 10 members of the group.

Iraqi Forces Foil ISIL Attack West of Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951124000799

Kata’ib Seyyed al-Shuhada fighters thwarted a terrorist attack by the ISIL on the area Tal Abta,” the popular forces said in a press statement, Iraqi news reported.

“The fighters killed ten members of the ISIL, as well as burning three vehicles. One member of Kata’ib Seyyed al-Shuhada was killed, while two others were wounded in the attack,” the statement added. “

Local sources reported that the ISIL terrorist group has executed 12 of its own members in Northwestern Iraq for trying to flee the group’s strongholds in Mosul city of Nineveh province.

Iraq: ISIL Executes 12 of Its Own Members for Trying to Flee Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951124000848

The militants were reportedly arrested by ISIL guards in Western Mosul while trying to flee to the Eastern part of the city -- which is now held by Iraqi security forces, Ara news reported.

“The ISIL accused them of treason for trying to surrender to Iraqi forces,” local media activist Abdullah al-Malla disclosed.

The 12 ISIL members were publicly beheaded in the Zanjabili neighbourhood in Western Mosul.

This comes one week after ISIL executed six of its own members in the town of Margada in Northeastern Syria for escaping the battlefield in Deir Ezzur province.

A security source disclosed that the ISIL militants have burned to death 15 civilians, including children, for attempting to escape areas under the terrorist group’s control.

ISIL Burns Dead 15, including Children, for Fleeing Kirkuk
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951124000670

“Daesh [ISIL] militants have burned to death 15 civilians belonging to three families from al-Shajarah village in Hawija (Southwest Kirkuk),” a security source told Alsumaria News on Saturday.

The group accused the victims of “abandoning the land of the caliphate,” the source said, adding that they were submerged with tar and then set to fire before a crowd.

According to the source, the victims were bound to central Kirkuk and areas in neighboring Salahuddin province. They were captured by ISIL on a road between al-Riyadh and Hamreen mountains area.

The group threatened citizens in the area they would be burned to death similarly if they try to escape.

A top leader of the Taliban group was along with several local and foreign militants in Northeastern Badakshan province of Afghanistan.

Top Taliban Leader, Foreign Militants Killed in Afghanistan
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951124001394

According to the local security officials in Badakhshan, the militants were killed during the counter-terrorism operations in Jurm district, Khaama press reported.

The commander of the 20th Pamir Brigade, General Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, said Mawlavi Naqibullah was among eleven insurgents killed during the operations.

Gen. Karimi further added that four foreign insurgents were among those killed. He said at least fourteen militants also sustained injuries during the operations conducted Farghamero and Aab Raghak villages in the past 24 hours.

According to Gen. Karimi, the Afghan security forces and local residents of the two villages did not suffer any casualties during the operations.

 

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A new report said on Wednesday the ISIL terror group is reportedly brainwashing dozens of abducted Izadi children into becoming potential bombers to carry out counterattacks against advancing government forces and allies in the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Report: ISIL Brainwashes Izadi Children into Becoming Bombers
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951127001402

According to propaganda video footage recently published by the terror group, scores of Izadi children, who have been displaced from their hometowns in the Northwestern Sinjar area, are now being trained in a ISIL terror training camp to conduct bombings, Shafaq News reported.

The footage shows two young Izadi brothers moments before they carry out an assault against Iraqi soldiers in an unspecified neighborhood of Eastern Mosul, located some 400 kilometers North of the capital, Baghdad.

One of the brothers, identified as Amjad Abu Yousef al-Sinjari, says in Kurdish that they received training at the camp before registration in ISIL lists of bombers.

The other brother, named As’ad Abu Khattab, says they come from Tell Qababeh village of Sinjar.

The video furthers shows the moment that the two are killed in a bombing against Iraqi troops.

ISIL executed 21 civilians in Mosul and Kirkuk on Wednesday for collaborating with security forces against the group.

21 Civilians Executed by ISIL in Mosul, Kirkuk over Alleged Colluding with Police
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951127001353

The militants drowned 13 civilians to death in Central Mosul over charges of collaborating with security forces, a local source in Nineveh said, as the group braces for a decisive battle with government troops bent on recapturing the city, Al Sumariya reported.

“ISIL today drowned 13 civilians to death inside metal cages in Dawasah, Central Mosul, over charges of collaboration with government and Peshmerga forces,” the source said.

The group filmed the execution, which was imposed following a verdict by the group’s so-called “legislative court”, said the source.

A similar execution style was adopted in Mosul’s Faisaliyah district with 14 civilians in August 2016 who were also found guilty of giving insider information to security.

A notorious ISIL senior commander and the mastermind of the group’s Chlorine-filled missiles was mysteriously assassinated in the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

ISIL Chemical Operation Chief Killed in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951127001321

Abu Yahya al-Iraqi was allegedly assassinated while the terror organization was retreating from the district, Awd News reported.

َAccording to Al-Masdar News, the ISIL commander near his house in al-Islah al-Zeraei neighborhood.

While the assassination of the 40-year old often referred to as the mastermind behind ISIL chlorine bombs manufacture remains shrouded in mystery, it is definitely another blow for the hardline group in Mosul as it continues to lose territories for the Iraqi forces.

The 44-year-old was referred to as the engineer behind ISIL’s stash of horrifying chlorine bombs.

A source in Mosul reported that complicated measures have been taken to assassinate Abu Yahya. It is still unclear which group carried out the assassination of Abu Yahya.

It is said that Abu Yahya’s family have disappeared before his assassination in Mosul.

Daily Star said that the “killing marks another blow for ISIL in Mosul as the cult loses ground to the Iraqi Army.” Iraqi officials have not yet responded.

The UAE Ambassador to Afghanistan Juma Al Kaabi succumbed to injuries sustained in a terrorist attack in Kandahar, in which five Emiratis died, in January.

UAE Ambassador Dies of Injuries Sustained in Afghanistan Terror Attack
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The Ministry of Presidential Affairs announced his death via Twitter on Wednesday, the National reported.

Five Emiratis were among at least 12 people killed when explosives placed under a sofa went off as the Kandahar governor was entertaining a UAE delegation at his guesthouse.

Al Kaabi had returned to the UAE to continue treatment in Abu Dhabi two days after the attack.

 

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Iraqi security forces have arrested a notorious female member of ISIL in Eastern Mosul, local sources in Nineveh province disclosed on Saturday, adding she was in charge of recruiting young girls and children for the terrorist group.

Mosul: Iraqi Forces Arrest One of Most Dangerous Female Members of ISIL
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951130001313

The sources said that Hafsah al-Basrawiyeh (from Basra city) has been arrested by Iraqi security forces in al-Ta'azizat region in Mosul.

The sources added that Hafsah had come to Mosul in 2007 and was responsible for recruiting young girls and children to marry ISIL members.

An Iraqi Defense Ministry statement said on Thursday that 15 ISIL terrorists were killed after Iraqi aircraft struck militant outposts near Mosul, Al Sumariya reported.

The attacks destroyed an ISIL command center as well as several tunnels, on which the terrorist group has relied for years to mount surprise attacks.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command also said a number of militant commanders were killed when a vehicle in which they were traveling was hit in an airstrike on the Eastern outskirts of Mosul.

Among those killed was the self-proclaimed ISIL governor of Mosul, identified as Haqqi Esmaeil Owaid also known as Abu Ahmed. Another man identified as Abu Maha, in charge of ISIL intelligence affairs, was also killed in the airstrike.

Additionally, three civilians lost their lives and four others were injured on Wednesday evening when an ISIL drone fired a rocket at the Nabi Younis market East of Mosul.

The Iraqi army and popular forces thwarted a large-scale attack by the ISIL in the Western part of Mosul in Nineveh province, killing tens of terrorists in fierce clashes.

Iraqi Forces Repel ISIL's Massive Attack in Western Mosul, Kill 80 Terrorists, 20 Commanders
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951130001256

The ISIL launched a massive operation to break the siege of the city of Tal Afar and also open the Iraq-Syria border which was strongly confronted with the resistance of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) and the terrorists sustained heavy losses.

"At least 100 ISIL terrorists, including 20 commanders, were killed in the battle," the Arabic-language al-Maloumeh news website quoted an unnamed security source as saying.

Meantime, tens of military vehicles of the ISIL terrorist group were also destroyed in the tough battle which lasted for over five hours.

Also the Hashd al-Shaabi backed by the Iraqi air force destroyed 14 bomb-laden vehicles and two ISIL drones.

 

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Iraqi forces began moving on Sunday towards Mosul's airport, as they seek to capture the entire city from the ISIL terror group.

Iraqi Forces Advance towards Mosul International Airport
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The Mosul international airport is the first target of a ground offensive to capture the Western side of the city that remains under the control of the ISIL militants, NRT reported.

Iraqi federal police units are leading a Northward charge on the Mosul districts that lie West of the Tigris River, aiming to capture the Mosul airport, located just South of the city, according to statements from the armed forces joint command.

Troops from the Rapid Response Unit started moving to retake an approximately 14-kilometers long area south of Mosul up to Abu Seif village, a strategic area situated on a hill overlooking Mosul's airport.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Sunday the formal start of a ground offensive on Western Mosul.

A military source revealed that the Saudi authorities have sent two contingents of special forces to an strategic area West of the city of Ta'iz in Yemen, led by a Saudi intelligence officer was overseeing the terror groups in Iraq.

Report: Intelligence Officer Formerly Led Terrorists in Iraq Sent to Yemen by Riyadh
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951201001285

the source, whose identity was withheld, said that the officer, who is considered as one of the first-class leaders in the Saudi intelligence, had been sent to Mokha area to follow up and monitor the Emirati military moves after the current convulsion between Saudi Arabia and the Wahhabi Salafist groups on one hand, and UAE and the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen on the other hand, Badr News reported.

An increase of hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni Salafist groups on one hand, and the UAE and the Muslim Brotherhood on the other hand, were highlighted with recent altercations occurred between the two sides in the Aden International Airport few days ago, the source added.

Snipers of Yemeni popular forces managed to hunt down a couple of Saudi forces during a mission near Yemen's shared border with Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Yemeni Troops Kill 2 Saudi Forces by Sniper Fire
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The mission was carried out in Saudi Southwestern border regions of Jizan and Asir in response to Riyadh’s aerial bombardment campaign against their country, Alwaght reported.

During their offensive, Yemeni army along with the popular forces attacked Saudi troopers in the al-Farizeh military base of the region, located 969 kilometers South of the capital, Riyadh.

Army troops and Popular Committees fighters also launched an attack on the al-Alab border crossing of Asir region, killing a Saudi trooper there.

Separately, several pro-Saudi militiamen loyal to resigned Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi were injured when Yemeni forces fired a barrage of artillery rounds at their gatherings in the Usaylan district of the Central Yemeni province of Shabwah.

The Afghan security forces killed a top figure of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in Nawa district.

Afghan Forces Kill Top Al-Qaeda Figure
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951201000911

The Afghan intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the Al-Qaeda leader Saifullah Akhtar was killed during a special raid of the NDS Special Forces in Nawa district, Khaama press reported.

NDS further added that the operation was conducted on 9th January leading to the death of Akhtar.

According to NDS, Akhtar had deployed around 30,000 militants from different countries, including Central Asian states to fight in Afghanistan.

Akhtar was in command of a terrorist camp in Bagram as he was closely working with Ayman Al-Zawahiri besides he was in command of another terrorist camp in Rishkur district of Kabul.

He was detained two times in Pakistan but was released later, NDS said, adding that Akhtar was in command of the war in Afghanistan after his release.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) also added that Akhtar was actively involved in leading the foreign and Pakistani insurgents in their fight against the Afghan government.

The anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the report so far.

 

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Media sources said minutes ago that the Iraqi Police forces continued their advances against ISIL terrorists and managed to win back Mosul's airport after hours of fierce clashes.

Iraqi Forces Capture Mosul Airport
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951205000757

The Arabic language al-Soumeriyah news reported that the Iraqi Federal police forces engaged in an intense battle with ISIL terrorists and could drive them out of Mosul's airport.

Al-Soumeriyah further added that ISIL has suffered heavy casualties and its military hardware has sustained major damage in the attack.

In the meantime, the Russian language Sputnik news agency quoted an Iraqi security source as saying that the Iraqi federal police's rapid response force has completely liberated the Mosul airport from ISIL terrorists.

A military source said that the Iraqi forces are resolved to turn the newly-liberated airport into a main base for completing their control over other ISIL-held regions in Mosul.

Commander of Asa'eb al-Haq Movement affiliated to Iraqi popular forces of Hashd al-Shaabi said that the US forces have been trying hard to evacuate ISIL commanders from the besieged city of Tal Afar West of Mosul.

Iraq: US Forces Trying to Evacuate ISIL Commanders from Tal Afar
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951205000483

After photos surfaced in the media displaying US forces assisting ISIL terrorists, Javad al-Talaybawi said that the Americans are planning to take ISIL commanders away from Tal Afar that is under the Iraqi forces' siege.

In the meantime, member of Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Commission Iskandar Watut called for a probe into photos and footages displaying US planes airdropping aid packages over ISIL-held regions.

Watut further added that we have witnessed several times that US planes dropped packages of food stuff, arms and other necessary items over ISIL-held regions, and called on Iraq's air defense to watch out the US-led coalition planes.

Eyewitnesses disclosed on Wednesday that the US military planes helped the ISIL terrorists in Tal Afar region West of Mosul.

"We saw several packages dropped out of a US army aircraft in the surrounding areas of the city of Tal Afar in Western Nineveh province and six people also came out of a US plane in the ISIL-controlled areas," the Arabic-language media quoted a number of eyewitnesses as saying.

Tal Afar city has been under the siege of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) for about two months now and the efforts by the ISIL terrorists to help their comrades besieged in Tal Afar have failed so far.

The news comes as the Iraqi army had reported that the US air force has been helping the ISIL terrorists in areas controlled by the terrorist group.

The Iraqi army says that the US army is trying to transfer the ISIL commanders trapped in areas besieged by the Iraqi army to safe regions.

The US military planes have helped the ISIL terrorists in Tal Afar region West of Mosul, eyewitnesses disclosed.

Eyewitnesses: US Military Planes Helping ISIL Terrorists in Tal Afar Region
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951204000432

"We saw several packages dropped out of a US army aircraft in the surrounding areas of the city of Tal Afar in Western Nineveh province and six people also came out of a US plane in the ISIL-controlled areas," the Arabic-language media quoted a number of eyewitnesses as saying on Wednesday.

Tal Afar city has been under the siege of the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) for about two months now and the efforts by the ISIL terrorists to help their comrades besieged in Tal Afar have failed so far.

The news comes as the Iraqi army had reported that the US air force has been helping the ISIL terrorists in areas controlled by the terrorist group.

The Iraqi army says that the US army is trying to transfer the ISIL commanders trapped in areas besieged by the Iraqi army to safe regions.

In relevant remarks in late January, a senior commander of the Iraqi popular forces in Hamreen region disclosed that the US helicopters have helped the ISIL terrorists in Hamreen mountains in several nighttime operations during the past several weeks.

"It seems that the US troops are looking for a new scenario to disrupt the military operations in the city of Mosul through conflicts in Hamreen strategic mountains," the commander said.

The strategic Hamreen mountain stretches from Salahuddin to Diyala and from there to Kirkuk province. Hamreen mountain is of paramount strategic importance as it fully oversees the region.

Also in late January, the Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) blocked the US soldiers' path to Mak'hul mountain in Northern Salahuddin and expelled them from the region once again.

The Arabic-language media reported that al-Nujaba Movement forces prevented the US army men from climbing Mak'hul mountain that is under the full control of Hashd al-Sha'abi and Iraqi security forces.

The al-Nujaba Movement noted that that the US soldiers and their armored vehicles intended to climb Mak'hul mountain but al-Nujaba forces pushed them back them from the region.

Airstrikes by the Iraqi Air Force on ISIL positions in Southern and Western Mosul left at least 36 members killed on Wednesday, including a top commander of the terror group in Mosul, according to military sources.

36 ISIL Members Killed in Western, Southern Mosul Operations, including ISIL's Tal Afar Governor
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Colonel Khodeir Saleh, from the Federal Police service said that at least 35 ISIL miliants were killed in airstrikes in Southern Mosul, Iraqi News reported.

He did not name the exact location of the strikes, but added that they coincided with Iraqi Army's strikes at the Mosul Airport, a major ISIL stronghold targeted by Iraqi forces.

Meanwhile, Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, said through its media service that Iraqi fighter jets killed the ISIL’s “wali” or governor of the town of Tal Afar, Mostafa Youssef, when they bombarded the village of Ein Tallawi in Western Mosul.

The Iraqi government declared Sunday the start of a new, decisive stage of operations against ISIL in Western Mosul, having retaken the Eastern region late January after three months of battles. Mosul is ISIL’s largest urban stronghold in Iraq, and its recapture would be critical in ending the group’s existence in Iraq.

On Tuesday, news reports quoted Federal Police chief, Shaker Jawdat, as saying that intense bombardment on the airport had killed dozens of ISIL militants and forced the group to withdraw from the facility. The forces had captured the al-Bouseif hills overlooking the airport and invaded the Ghizlani military camp which stretches nearby.

 

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Iraqi security forces reported heavy fighting with ISIL militants as they resumed edging towards Mosul after they managed to successfully advance into what was once one of the nation’s busiest airports, the Mosul International Airport, recapturing buildings within and taking control over the runway.

Iraqi Forces Advance towards Mosul after Recapturing Mosul International Airport
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951206000202

The shape of the airport is uncertain, but many have ended up needing considerable repair to be operational again after changing hands in combat situations, Antiwar reported.

Iraqi forces said they have broken the ISIL line of defense at the village of Tel al-Rayan, and are advancing close to the Southwestern edge of the city. Indications are that they intend to line up along the city’s outskirts for a time before trying to advance in.

Iraq began the operation to liberate Mosul back in October, and claimed to have fully captured the city’s East in January, though ongoing fighting has been reported there ever since. Western Mosul remains under ISIL control, and was the more populous and more heavily defended side of the city.

The General Command of the Emirati Army announced on Friday that one of of its soldiers was killed in Yemen.

Emirati Soldier Killed in Yemen
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951206000737

In a statement, it added that the sergeant Khaled Ali Gharib Al-Balloushi was killed during his participation in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, Al Manar reported.

The statement did not provide any further detail regarding killing of the Emirati soldiers, as how and where the military serviceman has been killed.

 

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Sheikh Akram al-Ka'abi, the leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite resistance movement fighting the ISIL, underlined his forces' preparedness to cooperate with the Syrian Army troops to liberate the Golan region occupied by Israeli forces.

Iraqi Nujaba Movement Ready to Join Syrian Army Operation to Liberate Occupied Golan
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951207000842

Al-Ka'abi said that the ISIL terrorist group is implementing an Israeli-initiated road map under the supervision of the US with the cooperation of Turkey and Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the region.

"And our presence in Syria is aimed at resisting against this plot," Ka'abi underscored.

He further underlined Iraqi al-Nujaba movement's full readiness to take part in a war to liberate Israeli-occupied Golan Heights shoulder to shoulder with the Syrian Army soldiers.

A spokesman of Iraq's Hezbollah al-Nujaba Movement declared in a statement in January that his fighters would fight against the terrorist groups in Syria until driving all of them out of the neighboring country.

"We were the first group (of popular forces) to have arrived in Syria to fight terrorists and we will stay there until the last terrorist leaves the country," Seyed Hashem al-Moussavi said in his statement.

He reiterated that the Iraqi popular forces fight against the terrorist groups for humanitarian reasons, and said, "The reason for our presence in Syria is only to fight terrorism."

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir arrived in Baghdad with an unscheduled official visit, media reported on Saturday.

Saudi FM Arrives in Iraq With First Official Visit Since 2003
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702251051037682-saudi-fm-iraq/

The minister is leading an official delegation meant to hold talks with Iraqi officials, Anadolu news agency said citing an anonymous source in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

This is the first time a Saudi foreign minister has visited the country since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Yemeni army and popular forces shot down a Saudi-led coalition fighter jet in the Kingdom's province of Najran, informed military sources disclosed.

Yemeni Army's Air Defense Downs Saudi-Led F16 Fighter Jet
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951207000551

"An F16 fighter jet of the Saudi-led Jordanian air force was downed by the Yemeni forces' air defense system in Najran province in Southwestern Saudi Arabia on Friday," the Arabic-language Sabanet news agency quoted a Yemeni military source as saying on Saturday.

The source did not provide any further detail about the downing of Jordan's F16 fighter jet.

The news came as the Saudi-led command center had claimed that one of the coalition's warplanes had crashed due to technical fault.

Jordan is a member-state of the Saudi-led coalition which are taking part in the war on the Yemeni people.

Yemen's army and popular forces targeted and destroyed a Saudi warship in al-Hudayda coastal waters with a guided missile, the 12th Saudi vessel sinking offshore Yemen.

Yemeni Forces Destroy Another Saudi Warship
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951207000619

The Saudi warship was precisely targeted by the Yemeni missile in al-Hudayda province as the vessel was trying to get close to al-Khokheh coastal waters. The sunken ship had repeatedly fired rockets at residential areas in Ta'iz province, inflicting casualties and destruction there.

This is the 12th time that a Saudi warship is sent deep into the waters of Bab al-Mandab Strait by the Yemeni forces.

Other Saudi battleships that were approaching Yemen's coasts retreated fast following the attack.

Canadian Joint Operations Command spokesperson Capt. Vincent Bouchard claims that Canadian advisers continue to play non-combat roles in Iraq by assisting the Iraqi Security Forces, but stand ready to defend them from attacks by Daesh terror group.

Canadian Military Ready to Defend Iraqi Trainees From Daesh Attacks
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702251051027594-canada-ready-defend-iraq/

Canadian advisers continue to play non-combat role by assisting the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), but stand ready to defend them from attacks by Daesh terror group, Canadian Joint Operations Command spokesperson Capt. Vincent Bouchard told Sputnik.

"The Canadian Special Operations Task Force continues to deliver on its mandate to provide advice and assistance to its Iraqi Security Forces partner," Bouchard said on Friday. "We are not principal combatants, but our personnel are ready to defend not only themselves but also the forces with which they are training and providing assistance."

"The Canadian Special Operations Task Force continues to deliver on its mandate to provide advice and assistance to its Iraqi Security Forces partner," Bouchard said on Friday. "We are not principal combatants, but our personnel are ready to defend not only themselves but also the forces with which they are training and providing assistance."

On Friday, the Washington Post reported that the United States, which leads a coalition of 68 nations against Daesh, has changed the rules of engagement for the operation to liberate Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul.

During the offensive to retake the Mosul airport, the coalition embedded American and European advisers with forward Iraqi rapid response and special operations forces units, according to the report.

Bouchard, however, said Canada’s advice and assistance mission in Iraq remains a non-combat one.

 

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A reporter with the Iraqi Kurdish media organization Rudaw was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday as she was working.

Kurdish Reporter Killed By Roadside Bomb in Iraq
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702261051060635-reporter-killed-iraq/

Shifa Gardi, a 30-year-old presenter and chief of output at Rudaw, was covering the fight between Daesh and Iraqi government forces as Iraq wrests control from the city back from terrorists. She was presenting a special daily program on the Mosul offensive for Rudaw TV, and had recently started to cover the conflict from inside the embattled city, Rudaw said.

Cameraman Younis Mustafa was also injured in the attack.

In a statement on her death, Rudaw called Gardi one of their "most daring journalists."

Yesterday, Gardi had been searching for a reported mass grave where Daesh was said to have buried hundreds of civilians. An armed paramilitary group she and her team encountered told them they knew where the grave site was. The bomb exploded as the two groups were searching near the gravesite, killing Gardi as well as five members of the paramilitary force and injuring another eight, her network reports.

President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani called Gardi a role model for Kurdish women.

"Her death reiterates the role, position, sacrifice and resilience of women and proud youth of Kurdistan's nation. On this sad occasion, I direct my condolences to the family of Ms Gardi, her colleagues at Rudaw Media Network and Kurdistan's journalists as a whole. May she rest in peace," he said in a statement.

Many supporters and colleagues also commented on Gardi's work in what remains a male-dominated field in Iraq and the Middle East in general.

Gardi is the first journalist to be killed this year, but the 179th to have been killed in Iraq since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Six were killed there last year.

Gardi, born Shifa Zikri Ibrahim, was born a refugee in Iran, Rudaw reported. She began working in media in 2006.

Rudaw is funded by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

 

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A mass grave believed to contain the bodies of thousands of Iraqi security personnel killed at the hands of the Daesh Takfiri militants has been discovered not far from the strategic northern city of Mosul, where government forces and their allies are engaged in the last phase of an operation to drive the extremists out of their last major stronghold in the country.

Largest mass grave with bodies of 4,000 people found in Iraq (Photo)
http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/02/26/512209/Iraq-mass-grave-Khafsa-sinkhole-Mosul-execution-killing-Daesh-militants

The Khasfa sinkhole lies eight kilometers outside Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, and is considered to be the biggest mass grave in conflict-ridden Iraq as it is the resting place of an estimated 4,000 victims, the British daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday.

The report, citing witnesses, wrote that most of the ill-fated Iraqi policemen were shot and dumped into the natural depression just off the Baghdad-Mosul highway, while others lost their lives in vehicles driven over the edge of the pit.

“Daesh would drive the victims to Khasfa in convoys of minibuses, trucks and pickups. The men had their hands bound and their eyes blindfolded,” said Mahmoud, a 40-year-old resident of the nearby Sananik village, who added, “They were taken to the sinkhole and shot in the back of the head.”

The dead either tumbled into the hole after being shot or were tossed into it by their masked killers, Mahmoud pointed out.

The body count at Khasfa mass grave outnumbers any other known sites in Iraq, especially the murder of about 1,700 Iraqi Air Force cadets in a June 2014 attack on Camp Speicher military base near the northern city of Tikrit.

“Khasfa is definitely one of the biggest, if not the biggest, mass grave by Daesh in Iraq. And from what we have heard it is not just a grave but also an execution site,” Belkis Wille, a senior Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch, said.

The sinkhole is said to be roughly 400 meters deep but contained so many bodies they began to be visible from its periphery.

“In the beginning, you couldn't see the corpses at the bottom of the hole. Only later, when it began to fill up, you could see the bodies,” Mahmoud said.

Some 2,000 policemen and soldiers were murdered by Daesh in one day alone, he claimed, adding that the victims of one of the executions he was forced to watch included his cousin, who worked as a police officer.

Daesh militants overran Mosul in June 2014. Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units – better known by the Arabic word Hasd al-Sha’abi, managed to liberate the eastern quarter of Mosul from the clutches of Daesh terrorists in January, three months after launching the operation to regain control of the country’s second-largest city.

On February 19, Iraqi soldiers and Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters mounted a new offensive to liberate western Mosul.

International aid organizations have warned against the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of civilians from western Mosul.

Makeshift camps are being built up in nine cities near Mosul and tents are being pitched in existing camps to accommodate up to 400,000 internally displaced people.

 

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On Monday, Iraqi security forces arrested the first female Daesh suicide bomber encountered in eastern Mosul before she could manage to blow herself up in al Makasid lil-banat school for girls located in the district of al Wahda in eastern part of the city, a local source in the city told Sputnik Arabic.

Daesh Female Suicide Bomber in Mosul Apprehended Before Attack on Girls' School
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702281051121017-mosul-female-suicide-bomber/

The source told Sputnik that the woman was wearing a suicide belt filled with explosives and tried to blow herself up among a group of schoolgirls in al Makasid lil-banat school for girls located in the district of al Wahda in eastern Mosul.

The Iraqi security forces have taken the woman away and fenced off the area, after which they carefully inspected the site.

The source also told Sputnik that there is quite a large number of Daesh female fighters hiding from police, living amongst the city's civilian population. Many of them are accused of committing numerous crimes against Mosul's residents.

Yazidi refugees currently residing in a camp at Sinjar Mountains in Iraq held a protest rally in order to raise awareness about Daesh terrorists enslaving their children and using them as suicide bombers.

Yazidi Refugees Plead to Save Their Children From Daesh Slavery
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702281051131158-child-slavery-protest/

The rally was held following a suicide bombing in Mosul that was perpetrated by Daesh child converts – two young Yazidi boys named Amjad and Asaad.

Many of the Yazidis participating in the rally have had their children kidnapped by Daesh; the grieving parents have no idea whether their sons and daughters are alive or dead, or whether they became slaves or Daesh converts.

The participants of the rally called on the Iraqi government and international organizations to help rescue their kidnapped sons and daughters. The assembled people fear that Daesh terrorists may brainwash their enslaved children and use them as disposable tools to commit more suicide attacks like the one in Mosul.

"Save the thousands (of our children)," the rally participants chanted in hoarse voices.

The Iraqi city of Sinjar was captured by Daesh terrorists early in August 2014. The terrorists have slaughtered thousands of the city's Yazidi residents, and enslaved approximately 5-7 thousand Yazidi women and children.

A raid by the Iraqi Air force destroyed an ISIL-operated radio station in Mosul as security forces advance into the West of the flashpoint city.

ISIL Radio Station in Mosul Silenced in Iraqi Airstrike
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951210001506

Al-Bayan radio suddenly fell silent after its office was hit by an air raid, Iraqi security sources and an anti-ISIL activist said, the New Arab reported.

"The radio station's transmitter was struck, rendering it completely out of service. This means ISIL has lost its last media outlet in the city,"
activist Qusay al-Mosuli said.

Al-Bayan ("The Statement") was launched in Iraq and Syria in early 2015 to broadcast news bulletins about ISIL victories, world news regarding the war against the group and the sermons of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

It aired programming to Mosul citizens in Arabic, Kurdish, English, French, and Russian.

Last October, the radio station was bombed out of operation after Iraqi warplanes targeted the media outlet's headquarters.

It is believed that the station went back on air before being targeted again.

Security specialist Jasim al-Shammari explained that ISIL had used the station as a tool to "brainwash" people in Mosul after the group banned access to satellite television and the internet.

"ISIL tried to isolate locals from the outside world by banning other sources of information in order to prevent dissent," Shammari said.

Also this month, US air raids destroyed ISIL' "Voice of the Caliphate" radio in a remote part of eastern Afghanistan.

Iraqi forces reached Mosul's Southernmost bridge on Monday, a key strategic location in the city, as they continue to battle ISIL militants positioned on the west bank of the Tigris River.

At least seven loyalists of the ISIL terrorist group were killed in a series of operations in Eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

ISIL Commander among 7 Killed in Security Operations East Afghanistan
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951210001104

The provincial officials said the militants were killed as part of the ongoing Shaheen-25 operations, Khaama Press reported.

The officials further added that nine militants also sustained injuries during the operations being jointly conducted by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in Haska Mina district.

According to the officials, the operations are being conducted with the support of close-air support and artillery units of the Afghan army.

Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in Eastern Afghanistan but the anti-government armed militant groups have recently increased to their insurgency activities in some remote districts of the province.

Both the Taliban insurgents and loyalists of ISIL terrorist group are occasionally conducting insurgency activities by staging coordinated attacks, roadside bombings and ambushes against the security forces and government officials.

The Shaheen-25 operations were launched nearly one month ago in response to the growing insurgency of the anti-government armed militants in Haska Mina, Kot, Achin and some other remote districts.

 

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A mass grave believed to contain the bodies of thousands of Iraqi security personnel killed at the hands of the Daesh Takfiri militants has been discovered not far from the strategic northern city of Mosul, where government forces and their allies are engaged in the last phase of an operation to drive the extremists out of their last major stronghold in the country.

Largest mass grave with bodies of 4,000 people found in Iraq (Photo)
http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/02/26/512209/Iraq-mass-grave-Khafsa-sinkhole-Mosul-execution-killing-Daesh-militants

The Khasfa sinkhole lies eight kilometers outside Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, and is considered to be the biggest mass grave in conflict-ridden Iraq as it is the resting place of an estimated 4,000 victims, the British daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday.

The report, citing witnesses, wrote that most of the ill-fated Iraqi policemen were shot and dumped into the natural depression just off the Baghdad-Mosul highway, while others lost their lives in vehicles driven over the edge of the pit.

“Daesh would drive the victims to Khasfa in convoys of minibuses, trucks and pickups. The men had their hands bound and their eyes blindfolded,” said Mahmoud, a 40-year-old resident of the nearby Sananik village, who added, “They were taken to the sinkhole and shot in the back of the head.”

The dead either tumbled into the hole after being shot or were tossed into it by their masked killers, Mahmoud pointed out.

Sputnik Arabic has obtained exclusive photos of a mass grave south of Mosul near the village of Rujuu. Local activists found the remains of local residents executed by Daesh terrorists out of a local naturally formed pit, where the victims had been dumped after being killed.

Daesh's Gruesome Legacy: Sputnik Obtains Photos of Mass Grave in South Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703011051167692-mosul-mass-grave-photos/

The bodies had been thrown into a deep pit outside Rujuu. Following the areas liberation by Iraqi security forces, local activists from another nearby village, al-Hud, were able to descend to the bottom of the pit using a rope tied to a car. Activists retrieved the remains of 15 people.

The victims' necks were fitted with collars put on their neck by the terrorists. Damage to the victims' skulls indicates that they were shot in the head.

Speaking to Sputnik Arabic, Muhannad, an activist from another local community – the village of al-Kayara, explained how the activists managed to find the mass grave.

"Even before the liberation of southern Mosul from Daesh, one person had been to the area and saw the bodies of the dead and the blood. He couldn't stay and inspect the area in detail, since it was dangerous, but he did manage to take a picture of this place, which helped us tremendously in finding it," the local resident explained.

Last week, Iraqi security forces made a separate gruesome discovery at the Khasfa sinkhole outside western Mosul. The large natural depression is believed to be Iraq's largest mass grave, containing about 4,000 bodies of Iraqi security personnel, who were captured and killed by Daesh over the space of six months after the terrorist group captured the city in 2014.

The grave found near Rujuu confirms that not even the tiniest of Iraq's village communities were spared from Daesh's reign of terror. Hopefully, that reign may soon come to an end. On Wednesday, Iraqi media reported that Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has admitted defeat in Iraq.