MOSUL, Iraq, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – Iraqi forces advanced
in west Mosul and fighters in neighbouring Syria seized a key supply route to Raqa Monday, as twin US-backed offensives gained ground against the Islamic State group.
Supported by the US-led anti-IS coalition, Iraqi forces and a Kurdish-Arab alliance in Syria are battling to push the jihadists from Mosul and Raqa, the last two major urban centres under their control.
The Pentagon said it has sent extra troops into northern Syria to make sure competing forces in and around the town of Manbij remain focused on fighting IS rather than each other.
Intense fighting since last week has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, raising fears for many more civilians still trapped in IS-held areas.
In Iraq, security forces retook a series of government buildings that were one of the targets of a renewed push in west Mosul launched Sunday, said the Joint Operations Command.
Iraq’s elite Rapid Response Division and federal police forces recaptured the Nineveh police headquarters, the courts complex and the water, electricity and sewage directorates.
And the Counter-Terrorism Service, the country’s premier special forces unit, retook Al-Sumood neighbourhood, another target in the drive, and attacked Al-Mansur.
The operation to recapture west Mosul was launched on February 19, but slowed due bad weather until a fresh push began on Sunday.
AFP reporters in west Mosul witnessed intense clashes, with heavy automatic weapons fire and clouds of black smoke billowing over the city.