Iraqi forces complete Mosul goal

ISIL bombers claim 32 lives in central and southern Iraq

BAGHDAD // Iraq’s special forces yesterday said they had completed their mission in Mosul after retaking the last western districts from ISIL within their area of operation.

A spokesman said the troops had completed their initial mission but stood ready “to support any other forces if we are ordered to by the prime minister”.

Battles were, however, continuing in a handful of western Mosul neighbourhoods that compelled hundreds of civilians to flee each day. ISIL still controls about 8 square kilometres of western Mosul, including the densely populated Old City.

Elsewhere in central and southern Iraq, a series of bombings killed at least 32 people. A suicide bombing yesterday at a checkpoint north of the oil-rich city of Basra killed at least eight people and injured 41.

Lt Gen Jamil Al Shimmari, chief of Basra operations command, said five civilians and three soldiers were killed when the bomber blew up his car late on Friday just behind a bus waiting to be cleared.

Security forces killed a second attacker who was driving down a desert road after the explosion.

Basra, about 550 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, is home to about 70 per cent of Iraq’s proven oil reserves and is the nation’s only outlet to the sea.

ISIL has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted Shiites.

In Baghdad, suicide car bombers near a checkpoint in the city’s southern Abu Dsheer area killed 24 people and injured 20. Brig Gen Saad Maan said security forces were able to kill one of the attackers, but the second blew up his car bomb.

ISIL also claimed the Basra attack, but said that both bombs were successfully detonated.

Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have recaptured much of the territory they lost to the extremists three years ago. They have recaptured the eastern half of the city and are fighting to retake a dwindling number of areas still under ISIL control in west Mosul.

Half a million people have been displaced because of the battle for Mosul, and about 250,000 civilians are estimated to remain trapped in west Mosul.

The presence of the civilians complicates any final assault to seal victory in Iraq’s second city. Human shields have become a central feature of the defence tactics used by the extremists, who are now vastly outnumbered.