IS launches counter attacks in Mosul

Islamic State (IS) fighters launched a string of counter-attacks in a western Mosul neighbourhood that had recently been declared free of the militant group, setting of clashes that continued overnight, Iraqi officials said.

By daylight yesterday, the situation was calm and the fighting had subsided, according to army spokesman Brigadier General Mohammed al-khodari. The attacks came as Iraqi forces continue to move in on the last pocket of territory the IS militants hold in the neighbourhood known as the Old City. Mr al-khodari said that IS sleeper cells set fire to houses and cars on Sunday afternoon in the Tanak neighbourhood on Mosul’s far western edge. The area was declared fully liberated in early May.

“This is in line with tactics we have seen previously in Samarra (and) Anbar,” he said.

Both the Iraqi city of Samarra and the province of Anbar had been liberated of IS militants last year but have seen occasional counter-attacks by the extremist group.