Top ISIL commander, several militants killed in Mosul

Federal Police Forces Commander Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat said on Wednesday that his forces had killed 30 Daesh extremists after launching a barrage of rockets at a militant position near the Fifth Bridge in western Mosul, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

Jawdat added that a senior militant commander of the so-called Dabiq Army, identified as Abdulqader Saleh Abdulqader, was among the slain Takfiris.

Meanwhile, the media bureau of the Popular Mobilization Units – commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, announced in a statement that the pro-government fighters, backed by the Iraqi Air Force, had struck Daesh bases in Salal and Kum al-Habib villages, killing 30 terrorists in the process.

The statement added that four pickup trucks equipped with heavy machineguns were set ablaze, and two vehicles rigged with explosives were destroyed before they could reach their destinations.

The developments came a day after Hashd al-Sha’abi stated that a high-ranking Daesh figure had been killed in an Iraqi Air Force strike near the city of Tal Afar, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

The commander was identified as Abu Dujanah al-Tunisi and in charge of Daesh operations in Badush village northwest of Mosul.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command also said dozens of Daesh terrorists were killed on Tuesday, when Iraqi military aircraft pounded their positions in the Zanjili neighborhood of western Mosul and the city's train station.

Iraqi army soldiers and pro-movement fighters have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements since launching the operation to retake Mosul last October.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

KD