Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State in western Mosul's old quarter

10 Jul 2017

Iraqi forces were battling Islamic State militants on Monday as they were pushing to retake the remaining part of the extremist group's former stronghold of Mosul.
Iraqiya state TV reported that Iraqi forces continued their operations in the Old City of Mosul, west of the Tigris River, against Islamic State.
On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi toured Mosul and congratulated the soldiers "on achieving the big victory."
The radical group seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in mid-2014.
In October last year, Iraq started a US-backed military campaign to dislodge Islamic State from the city.
In February, Iraqi forces launched an offensive backed by the US to wrest the western section of Mosul from Islamic State, almost a month after they recaptured the eastern part of the city.
The Mosul operation coincides with a US-supported attack by local fighters in neighbouring Syria aimed at expelling Islamic State from its de facto capital of al-Raqqa.
On Monday, al-Abadi met a group of Iraqi Christians and told them that "our aim is for all the displaced, of all ethnicities, religions and sects, especially our Christian brothers, to return to their homes in Mosul."
The prime minister said that such co-existence was the best response to the extremists.
He said it was his responsibility to ensure that all Iraqis were treated equally and called for safeguarding the diversity of Iraqi society.
When Islamic State overran Mosul in 2014, Christians were forced to either convert to Islam or leave the city, from which most Iraqi Christians originate.
At least 25,000 Christians were forced to flee, mainly to the northern provinces of Kirkuk and Dohuk. Many more left the country altogether.
According to estimates by an Iraqi rights watchdog, the number of Christians in Iraq dropped from 1.5 million in 2003 to about half a million in 2014.


Source: Dpa News