IS uses female suicide bombers as net tightens

TWO female suicide bombers, hiding among fleeing civilians, targeted Iraqi troops in Mosul overnight, killing one soldier and wounding several others, an Iraqi officer said.

It was the latest counterattack by Islamic State as Iraqi forces close on the last pocket of militant-held territory in the Old City neighbourhood — the scene of the last stand by IS militants.

After days of fierce battles, the territory held by the militants in Mosul, Iraq’s secondlargest city, is shrinking, with IS controlling about 1km in all.

Using women as suicide bombers was apparently the latest tactic by the militants, Sgt Ali Abdullah Hussein said.

“They appeared from the basement [of a building] and they blew themselves up,” Sgt Hussein said as he returned from the scene, his troops carrying the body of their comrade wrapped in a blanket.

The attack happened in the area of the destroyed al-Nuri Mosque, which was the focus of the Iraqi forces’ push last week.

Over the past three days, Sgt Hussein said at least four such attacks have targeted Iraqi forces as hundreds of Mosul’s civilians are fleeing the battles in the Old City’s congested streets.

Meanwhile, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have breached the old city in Syria’s Raqqa after the US-led coalition fired on two small sections of the historic Rafiqah Wall, allowing them to overcome Islamic State defences.

“The portions targeted were 25m sections and will help preserve the remainder of the overall 2500m wall,” the coalition said in a statement. Central Command said in a statement that by punching through two “small portions” of the Rafiqah Wall it was able to enter the Old City while avoiding booby traps and IS snipers.

The loss of the northern Syrian city would deal a major blow to IS.