Iraqi forces beat LIH of eastern Mosul

Sixty-seven people were wounded in the blast.US -backed Iraqi forces are now fighting to push Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, but are facing fierce resistance. Dorrian made his comments today during a video briefing from Baghdad with Pentagon reporters.

Speaking broadly about the adviser role in the Mosul operation, Dorrian said “they’ve advised the Iraqi Security Forces as they’ve moved forward”.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain inside Iraq’s second city, a large urban area that gives IS myriad opportunities for ambushes, forcing Iraqi and allied forces to take precautions and slowing their advance. “It’s going to be very unsafe”.

However, last Thursday Iraqi forces renewed their push from Mosul’s east toward the Tigris River on three fronts. “There will be a very tough fight there as well”.

A senior commander from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the front-line fighting inside the city told AFP on Sunday that Iraqi forces now controlled more than 60 percent of Mosul’s eastern half.

At least 27 people were killed by twin explosions in a busy market area in central Baghdad on Saturday, in what was the deadliest such attack in the Iraqi capital in two months. He said not all of the Mosul advisers are American, but include some coalition advisers.

The UN said in December that more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers had been killed since the launch of the Mosul offensive in October. After arriving in camps for the displaced, they were able to reach out to loved ones and return to social media after a virtual two-year blackout.

“They have got a finite amount of resource that are on the eastern side and the fact that their capability is waning indicates that those resources are starting to dwindle”, US Army Maj.

Townsend said the top Iraqi commanders now all come together every few days – something the USA military does daily wherever it operates.