Saturday, October 22, 2016

ISIS kills hundreds in Mosul area, source says

from cnn


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(CNN)ISIS rounded up and killed 284 men and boys as Iraqi-led coalition forces closed in on Mosul, the terror group's last major stronghold in Iraq, an Iraqi intelligence source told CNN.
Those killed Thursday and Friday were used as human shields against attacks forcing ISIS out of southern parts of Mosul, the source said.
ISIS dumped the corpses in a mass grave at the defunct College of Agriculture in northern Mosul, the intelligence source said.
    The victims -- some of them children -- were all shot, said the source, who asked for anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. CNN could not independently confirm the killings.

    Latest developments

    • Kurdish officials accused Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk of supporting ISIS a day after attacks killed dozens.
    • A large-scale offensive began Saturday to retake Hamdaniya; Iraqi troops also advanced on Tal Kayf.
    • Iraqis displaced by the Mosul offensive are seeking shelter in camps, the UN refugee agency said.

    Iraqi forces move on Hamdaniya

    The Iraqi military launched a large offensive early Saturday to retake Hamdaniya -- also known as Qaraqosh -- from ISIS, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command center said.
    ISIS using drones in battle for Mosul
    ISIS using drones in battle for Mosul 02:43
    The city is about 15 kilometers (nine miles) southeast of Mosul.
    Iraqi troops entered the al-Askary neighborhood and liberated the mayor's building and the main hospital, raising the Iraqi flag over those buildings, Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Maliky said.
    At least 50 ISIS militants were killed and some of their equipment destroyed, he added.
    Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga -- as the Kurdish fighters are known -- have made progress and isolated Hamdaniya, a US military official said in Baghdad, speaking on background.

    Tal Kayf is next target

    Iraqi troops are also advancing toward Tal Kayf and plan on storming the Chaldean town, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said Saturday.
    Iraqi army and militia forces arrive Thursday in Saleh village in the offensive to wrest Mosul from ISIS.
    Tal Kayf is about 10 kilometers (six miles) north of Mosul.
    It's the closest Iraqi security forces have come to Mosul, a CNN analysis indicates.
    The US military official said US and coalition aircraft were providing air support as needed Saturday. The official said land forces were working through "a hard outer crust," and resistance would intensify as the offensive neared Mosul.
    The official said ISIS fighters had infiltrated towns cleared earlier, including Bartella, requiring renewed efforts to combat them.

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