MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi government forces on Friday retook the al-Adala district and al-Basha Mosque on the right bank of Mosul from ISIS, Rudaw’s Farhad Dolamari reported from western Mosul. He also said around midday that Iraqi military helicopters were bombing ISIS positions, and that ISIS militants had so far detonated three car bombs near Iraqi forces, who blew up two ISIS vehicles. Iraqi armed forces have been targeting ISIS positions with mortars and tanks near Bab al Tawb, but Dolamari said Iraqi and coalition jets were not bombing ISIS on Friday due to unclear skies. He added that the Iraqi forces are now in Cornish neighborhood, defending the territory they already had retaken. Lieutenant General Shaker Jawdat said in a statement that forces continued to advance against the strategic district from several directions, according to state news. “Federal Police and Rapid Response forces, stationed near the Old Bridge along the (Tigris) river and on the outskirts of Bab al-Bid, resumed their military operations today,” Jawdat reportedly stated. Iraqi Federal Police announced Iraqi forces had retaken control of the Old Bridge, also called the Iron Bridge, on Wednesday, meaning government forces had retaken three of Mosul's five bridges on both sides of the Tigris river. The next goal of the operation is the retaking of Nuri mosque where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his so-called caliphate on June 29, 2014, naming himself the leader of the whole Islamic world, seeking to found a new Islamic regime. ISIS executed 13 Islamic clerics who refused to pledge allegiance to the self-declared caliphate in that same month, including the cleric of the mosque. The mosque is also the site of the al-Hadba minaret, nicknamed the hunchback by Iraqis because of its precarious tilt.
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