MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi armed forces resumed their assault on ISIS militants in the western half of the city of Mosul on Sunday after a three day halt due to bad weather, advancing into the neighborhoods of Dawasa, Denedan, and al-Mansour.
Rudaw's Sidad Lashkiri embedded with the Iraqi forces reported on Sunday that the Iraqi Federal Police and Rapid Response Force have recaptured 20 percent of Denedan neighborhood near the fourth Mosul bridge and advances into Dawasa.
Lashkiri added that ISIS militants have been putting up tough resistance against the advancing Iraqi forces with snipers and car bombs.
Iraqi helicopters alongside US-led coalition warplanes have been intensively bombing the group's movements and positions in the areas where clashes are ongoing.
Over the past 15 days, 330 ISIS militants have been killed and 110 others taken captive, according to army officials. They have also detonated 90 car bombs.
The advancement of Iraqi troops has been slow as the army nears more inhabited centers of the city where ISIS is thought to be using residents as human shields. Around 750,000 people are still estimated to be in the western half of Mosul where ISIS is largely in control.
The Iraqi military said at least 125 suicide bombings have been recorded since the operation began in the western half of the city on February 19, many of them with deadly outcomes for the Iraqi troops.
“More than 10 suicide bombers stage attacks on a daily basis,” said Iraqi army officer Hisam Wali.
Over 500 Iraqi soldiers have been killed since the operation started.
The coalition estimates that there are about 7,000 ISIS militants in Iraq, with around 2,000 of them in and around Mosul. Of those, foreign fighters number about 10 percent.
The army has taken over control of the districts of Wadi al-Hajar, al-Jawsaq, and al-Tayyaran on the southern edge of the western half of the city, and the southernmost district of al-Maamun.
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