Assaults on IS in Mosul and Raqqa gain ground

IRAQI forces advanced in west Mosul and fighters in Syria seized a key supply route to Raqqa yesterday as twin US-backed offensives gained ground against Islamic State.

Supported by the US-led antiIS coalition, Iraqi government forces and a Kurdish-Arab alliance in Syria are battling to push the jihadists from Mosul and Raqqa, the last two major urban centres under their control.

Fighting in recent days has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, raising fears for many more trapped in areas of IS’s “caliphate”.

In Iraq, security forces advanced yesterday towards a compound of jihadist-held government buildings and a bridgehead. A senior Iraqi commander said in a statement that interior ministry forces were advancing in three neighbourhoods of west Mosul with the aim of taking a government compound held by the jihadists.

Lieutenant Colonel Abdulamir Mohammedawi of the elite Rapid Response Division said its forces were “advancing in the AlDawasa and Al-Danadan areas to liberate the government buildings and secure a route for families to leave”. Its sights were also set on the nearby Al-Hurriyah Bridge, but Rapid Response had “not yet” reached it.

Mosul is divided by the Tigris river, and while the series of bridges crossing it have either been damaged or destroyed, they would provide a link between the Iraqi governmentheld east and IS-held west Mosul if they can be repaired or otherwise bridged.