Iraqi forces battling Isis cut off Mosul from Syria

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Forces battling Isis militants in northern Iraq claim to have cut off the militants' last supply line from Mosul to Syria, trapping the group's fighters in the city for a bloody last stand.

A day after the last major bridge over the Tigris in Mosul was bombed by coalition against Isis, elite forces fighting in the east of the city also reported significant progress.

To the west of Mosul, Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces made a push to cut the road between two towns on the route heading to Syria, security officials said.

“Hashed forces have cut off the Tal Afar-Sinjar road,” senior Hashed commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis said on social media on Wednesday.

A Kurdish security official told AFP that Hashed forces had linked up with other anti-IS forces, including Kurdish fighters, in three villages in the area.

The town of Tal Afar itself, which lies about 30 miles west of Mosul, is still under the control of the militants.

Iraqi forces launched a major offensive on 17 October to retake Mosul, which is the country's second city and where militant boss Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate in 2014.

Isis fighters moving in an intricate network of tunnels have used snipers, booby traps and a seemingly endless supply of suicide car bombers to stop Iraqi forces.

The authorities have not released casualty figures since the start of the offensive but fighters have admitted being surprised by how fierce Isis resistance has been.

CTS's Staff Lieutenant General Abdelghani al-Assadi said however that his forces had found fresh momentum in recent days.

“We cleared more than 40 per cent on the eastern side,” he told AFP, adding that after retaking the neighbourhood of Aden, CTS fighters had reclaimed parts of Al-Zuhur.

“The task has become much easier for us - militants resistance has weakened,” he said. “Even if we face serious resistance, we're going to eliminate them.”





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