ISIS update 4/18/2017...Iraqi forces enter al-Thawra in Mosul

Iraqi forces enter al-Thawra neighbourhood killing 60 ISIS militants in Mosul

Number of displaced from western Mosul surpasses 280,000 with no signs of slowing

Iraq CTS Chief: Only Six Districts Still Held by ISIL in Western Mosul

Only six districts in Western Mosul are still held by ISIL as Iraqi troops liberated most of the districts, according to a senior military official.

“The military troops keep going steadily to liberate the remaining small area of western Mosul in order to declare the city as fully-liberated one. 32 out of a total of 38 districts were purged, in addition to the strategic airport of Mosul and Ghozlani military camp,” Lieutenant-General Talib Shaghati, head of the Counter Terrorism Services (CTS), said, Al Sabah reported.

Earlier on the day, CTS declared the troops advance in districts of al-Thawra and al-Tanak.

The Joint Operations Command previously announced that ISIL militants were only in control over 6.8 percent of territory of Iraq and that government troops were controlling 60 percent of the Western side of Mosul.

In related news, the War Media Cell reported that airstrikes launched by Iraqi military drones destroyed IS fuel sources, west of Mosul.

In a statement, the media service said “ISIL drones launched airstrike that destroyed stores used by ISIL militants as fuel station in Baaj town.

Iraqi troops took over Eastern Mosul in January and launched a new offensive to take the western region in February.

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April 18, 2017: Turkish-Kurdish Tensions Increase In Northern Aleppo

Turkish Soldiers, Kurdish Fighters Exchange Heavy Fire in Northern Syria

The Turkish Army soldiers and allied militants targeted heavily the positions of Kurdish fighters in five different regions in Northern Aleppo, escalating fierce clashes with the Kurds.

Artillery and mortar units and tanks of the Turkish army and Ankara-backed militants of the Euphrates Shield Operation shelled Kurdish combatants’ concentration centers and defense lines in the villages of al-Shahba, al-Samouqeh, Zouyan, al-Hasiyeh and Um Hawsh in around the towns of Ezaz and Afrin in Northern Hama.

The Kurdish fighters in return opened heavy fire at the Euphrates Shield forces’ positions. In the meantime, the Kurdish fighters engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish army men and their allied militants in the village of Qastal Jandou.

Earlier this month, the predominately Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warded off an offensive of the Ankara-backed militants of the Euphrates Shield Operation in the Northern part of Aleppo province, killing a number of militants.

The SDF’s Jeish al-Thawar engaged in fierce clashes with the Turkey-backed militants of the Euphrates Shield Operation and fended off their massive attack on the villages of Tal Maziq, Qolsarouj, Samouqeh, Sheikh Issa, Harbal and Um Hush in Northern Aleppo, killing a number of militants and destroying their military vehicles.

SDF warned later that it would soon launch an offensive on the Turkish army in Northern Aleppo province to push the foreign military troops out of the highly strategic region of Al-Bab.

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Farsnews

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