Nearly 3,000 killed in Iraq in November, UN says

Global body says 1,100 more victims killed compared to November 2015

 News Briefs

The death toll in Iraq in November reached 2,885 from terror attacks and armed conflicts, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) announced Thursday.

The agency said in a statement that 1,380 others were injured. A total of 926 civilians were killed and 930 wounded.

The monthly report also said 1,959 security members were killed and 450 others were injured.

And the death toll increased by 1,093 victims compared to November 2015.

The numbers, however, did not include Iraq's western al-Anbar province because of the "volatility of the situation on the ground and the disruption of services".

Baghdad was the most devastated city in November, as 152 civilians died and 581 others were injured, UNAMI said. Also, in Mosul, 332 civilians died and 114 people were wounded.

"The casualty figures are staggering, with civilians accounting for a significant number of the victims," according to the statement that quoted UN envoy to Iraq and UNAMI chief Jan Kubis.

The Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and local allies -- has for the past 45 days fought to retake Mosul, which was once Iraq’s second most populous city.

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US concerned with Shia militia joining Iraqi army

Shia militia's integration into army may increase Iran's influence over Baghdad gov’t, Centcom commander says

 News Briefs

The Iraqi government’s effort to integrate a Shia militia group in the country’s security forces is concerning as it might increase Iran’s influence with Baghdad, a U.S. general said Wednesday.

 “It will increase obviously Shia -- potentially Iranian -- influence over the government of Iraq and we have to be concerned about it,” the head of Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel said during a panel discussion at the Foreign Policy Initiative, a neoconservative Washington-based think tank.

Iraq’s parliament passed a law last weekend that formally recognized controversial Iran-backed Shia militia group, Hashed Al Shaabi, as an "independent military entity" operating within the Iraqi Army.

Votel believes the nuclear deal inked between the world powers and Iran last year did not help change Tehran’s actions such as sponsoring terror groups and fueling sectarian conflicts.

 “It is implemented appropriately but it addresses only one of our concerns,” he said of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Votel said since the deal, Iran has sponsored more than 100,000 Shia militias in conflicts, including in Yemen and Iraq.  

“I would probably say there is a little bit of uptick,” he said.

Votel also indicated that military-to-military relations between the U.S. and Egypt did not slow following a military coup by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2013.  

“Frankly I think the military-to-military relationship like all other relationships has its highs and has its lows but I think it remained pretty steady,” he said.

Votel’s comments follow severe criticism by Washington of Egypt’s military’s crackdown on hundreds of demonstrators and arrests of thousands of others, including political leaders and activists, in the wake of the coup.

The general also commended Turkey’s efforts to help his command that is leading the anti-ISIL fight.

“Recently, we could not do the things that we are been doing, particularly in Syria, without the support we get from Turkey on a daily basis,” he said.  

Like others in the region, Turkey has concerns, he said, noting the U.S. should recognize Turkey’s concerns about the PKK and ISIL terror groups.  

Turkey has opened its bases to the U.S.-led coalition and launched Operation Euphrates Shield in August in support of moderate Syrian opposition groups against ISIL in northern Syria. 

Two Turkish soldiers were allegedly captured Tuesday by ISIL. The deputy commander of anti-ISIL coalition, British Maj. Gen. Jones Rupert, told reporters via a video conference from Baghdad the coalition would help Turkey recover the soldiers. 

He did not elaborate about what kind of support the coalition would provide.

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500,000 Iraqis face 'catastrophic' Mosul water shortages

Operations to retake Iraq's second city have damaged water pipes in recent days and residents in east Mosul say they have resorted to pumping water from wells.

News Briefs

Up to 500,000 civilians in Mosul face a "catastrophic" drinking water shortage as Iraqi forces advance on the ISIL group in the city, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.

"Nearly half a million civilians, already struggling to feed themselves day to day, are now without access to clean drinking water. The impact on children, women and families will be catastrophic," said Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq.

"We don't have water or electricity. We are drinking well water but that's not enough," said Mosul resident Mohamed Khalil, 25.

Iraqi commanders said around 40 percent of the eastern half of Mosul has been retaken from the jihadists since a huge offensive began on October 17.

The forces have told civilians to stay at home in order to avoid massive displacement from the city, which was believed to have a population of a million-plus before the operation started.

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Iraq’s Al-Sadr calls for reform of Shia militia group

Move comes 2 days after parliament votes to incorporate Hashd al-Shaabi into Iraqi armed forces

 News Briefs

Prominent Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has made recommendations to President Fuad Masum and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri for reforming the Hashd al-Shaabi, according to statements issued Monday by the offices of both officials.

The Hashd al-Shaabi is an umbrella group of Shia militias that is now slated for formal integration into the Iraqi armed forces.

According to al-Jabouri’s office, al-Sadr’s raft of recommendations included suggestions for streamlining the Hashd al-Shaabi’s operations, financially and administratively.

Al-Sadr had also emphasized that group members "should not be affiliated with any political faction", al-Jabouri’s office said in the statement.

On Saturday, 208 out of 328 members of parliament called for officially incorporating the Hashd al-Shaabi into the Iraqi armed forces in a parliamentary vote that was boycotted by Sunni lawmakers.

The State Department said Monday that the decision was an "internal Iraqi matter" but expressed concerns and wanted things to be settled in a way that "doesn't further inflame sectarian tensions".

Established in 2014, the Hashd al-Shaabi is an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias drawn up with the express purpose of fighting the ISIL terrorist group. 

The Hashd al-Shaabi has stirred controversy, however, with some of its members having been accused of committing abuses against Sunni civilians in areas they had "liberated" from ISIL.

Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated markedly since mid-2014, when ISIL captured the city of Mosul -- now the target of a wide-ranging military campaign -- and overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq. 

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Iraq parliament recognizes Shia militia

Shia militia has been accused in the past of committing rights violations against Sunnis

 News Briefs

The Iraqi parliament Saturday voted to recognize the Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia as an official force. 

Some 208 MPs of the 328-seat parliament attended Saturday’s vote, which was boycotted by Sunni lawmakers. 

“The security and defense committee with the participation of relevant panels has managed to issue the Hashd al-Shaabi legislation,” lawmaker Hakim al-Zamli told reporters. 

He called on the government to finalize the structure and appointments of the militia leaders. 

Established in 2014, the Hashd al-Shaabi is an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias drawn up with the purpose of fighting the ISIL terrorist group. 

“The Council of Representatives (parliament) has fulfilled its responsibility toward the mujahideen (fighters),” Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the Shia National Alliance, the largest bloc in parliament, said. 

Saturday’s vote came despite a call by the Iraqi cabinet for withdrawing the bill for further study. 

Al-Hashd al-Shaabi has been controversial, since the Shia militia has been accused in the past of committing rights violations against Sunni-Muslim populations in areas taken from ISIL, including Iraq’s western city of Fallujah. 

Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated markedly since mid-2014, when ISIL captured Mosul -- Iraq’s second largest city -- and overran large swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

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Germany warns over sectarian tensions in Mosul

Foreign minister says only Sunni Muslim units should be allowed in city center

 News Desk

Germany on Monday urged caution during the battle to retake Mosul in northern Iraq to avoid sectarian conflict.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the gains against ISIL in the region surrounding the city but called for unity among the diverse population.

“During the liberation of Mosul, any unjust treatment of the civil population should be prevented,” he said at a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Berlin.

“The civil population freed from ISIL should be treated fairly, irrespective of their ethnic or religious origin or membership.”

Mosul and the area around the city is comprised mostly of Arab Sunni Muslims but there are significant numbers of Turkmen, Kurds, Ezidis, Christians and Shia Muslims.

“The agreements made before the offensive for the liberation of Mosul should be honored,” Steinmeier added. “Those groups which are under the influence of foreign interests should be kept away from the central area of the city to the best extent possible.”

His remarks referred to Iran-backed Shia militias who have been implicated in mistreating Sunni civilians in other parts of Iraq liberated from ISIL.

“The central area of the city should be liberated in the end by Iraqi Sunni forces,” the minister said.

The operation to retake Mosul was launched on Oct. 17 with the backing of coalition airpower. The city was overrun by the group in June 2014.

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Iraqi official says 2,800 ISIL killed in Mosul

Battle to retake northern city sees heavy casualties, defense ministry says

 News Desk

More than 2,800 ISIL terrorists have been killed in the operation to retake the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Tahsin said 2,801 terrorists had been killed by the Iraqi military and coalition forces since the campaign began on Oct. 17.

The Iraqi military estimated at the start of the operation that up to 6,000 ISIL fighters occupied the city.

Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, said 545 terrorists were killed by Iraqi airstrikes while coalition airstrikes accounted for 352 others.

He told a news conference in Al-Qayyara, south of Mosul, the army had killed 955 ISIL terrorists and captured 108 in ground operations. He gave no account of the outstanding ISIL casualties.

Recaptured areas inside Mosul, which was seized by ISIL in June 2014, would be handed over to local police, Maan added.

U.S. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, spokesman for a U.S.-led coalition against ISIL, said Iraqi forces were sparing no effort to protect the civilian population.

More than 4,000 mortar rounds had struck ISIL targets since the start of the operation to retake Mosul, he added.

“We have killed hundreds of ISIL terrorists and destroyed 59 bomb-laden vehicles and 80 tunnels,” Dorrian said.

The operation has seen the Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, backed by coalition air power, advance towards Mosul from the south and east in a bid to retake the final ISIL stronghold in Iraq.

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955 ISIL militants killed south of Mosul

Almost 1,000 militants killed – and more than 100 captured – along Mosul’s southern battlefront, military sources say

 News Desk

The Iraqi army has killed 955 ISIL militants -- and captured another 108 -- on the southern front of an ongoing army campaign, now in its fifth week, to recapture Mosul, according to military sources.

At a Tuesday press conference held in the Al-Qayyara district south of Mosul, Brigadier-General Saad Maan, a spokesman for the army’s Baghdad Operations Command, said Iraqi forces had recently captured several areas inside Mosul and had since handed them over to local security forces.

"All the areas we capture [inside Mosul] will be handed over to the local police force," Maan said, noting that army operations remained ongoing along all battlefronts.

At the same press conference, U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian -- a spokesman for a 60-nation, U.S.-led coalition against ISIL -- said Iraqi forces were sparing no effort to protect Mosul’s civilian population.

"We [coalition forces] have struck ISIL positions with more than 4,000 mortar rounds [since the Mosul campaign began on Oct. 17]," he said.

"We have killed hundreds of ISIL extremists and destroyed 59 bomb-laden vehicles and 80 tunnels [south of Mosul]," Dorrian added.

Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul.

Once Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population, Mosul -- along with additional swathes of territory in the country’s north and west -- was overrun by ISIL in mid-2014. 

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army and its allies retake much territory from the extremist group, especially on Mosul’s outskirts and in the western Anbar province.

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Suicide bombings kill 9 in Iraq’s Fallujah

ISIL claims responsibility for the bombings

 News Desk

Nine people were killed and 26 others injured late Monday in two suicide bombings claimed by ISIL group in Iraq’s western city of Fallujah. 

A bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a security checkpoint and detonated it at the entrance of Nazal district in central Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad. 

Another bomber blew up his explosive vest at a police headquarters in central Fallujah. 

“Five military personnel and four civilians were killed in the attacks,” medic Ahmed Jassim told Anadolu Agency. 

He said another 10 military personnel and 16 civilians were injured in the bombings. 

ISIL extremist group swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated on social media. 

Monday’s attack came shortly after seven people were killed in a suicide bombing in the holy Shia city of Karbala in southern Iraq.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when ISIL captured the northern city of Mosul – now the subject of a large offensive to retake it – and overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country. 

According to the UN, some 58,000 people have been killed in violence since ISIL captured large parts of Iraq in 2014. 

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2,000 Iraqis displaced per day

Over 50,000 people displaced so far in Havice district alone

 News Desk

Around 2,000 Iraqi civilians are being displaced every day due to the ongoing military operations against ISIL militants in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi minister said.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Baghdad on Monday, Immigration Minister Derbaz Mohammed said more than 50,000 people have been displaced so far from Havice district in Kirkuk in northern Iraq alone.

“Nearly 200 people are being removed from their homes in Havice every day,” he said during the presser with Lise Grande, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

Mohammed said displaced civilians are being accommodated in tent camps.

“We have planned to accommodate at least 750,000 people in tent camps,” he said. “Our forecast now is that 500,000 people would become internally displaced. But this number might rise up.”

Grande, for her part, said the UN has been following up the ongoing military operations in Mosul.

“We have noticed that extraordinary measures were taken for civilians’ security concerns,” she said.

Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, which was overran by ISIL in mid-2014, along with vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army and its allies retake much territory from the extremist group, especially on Mosul’s outskirts and in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

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Iraq’s Kurdish party concerned about Shia militias

Northern Iraq's Kurdistan Democratic Party says Shia militias were trying to settle in Kirkuk

News Desk

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in northern Iraq has said on Sunday it would not let al-Hashdi al-Shabi, a Shia militia group, settle in the northern Kirkuk province.

"[Al-Hashdi al-Shabi militias] were allowed to settle in Tuz Khurmatu town [in Saladin province] and Dakuk town [south of Kirkuk] but we as KDP did not allow them to advance to Leylan town [near Kirkuk]," Ferhat Kirkuki, the KDP's provincial head in Kirkuk, said in a written statement published on the party's official website.

Kirkuki claimed that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party let the militias settle in province.

For now, the presence of the militias is not obvious in Kirkuk's center because they live in Shia neighborhoods, he added.

"Al-Hashdi al-Shabi wants to increase its numbers and activities in the region. We blocked this in Leylan town. After that, we will not allow them to enter the town and Kirkuk's center," Kirkuki added.

Iraq has been dogged by rampant insecurity since 2014, when ISIL overran Mosul and declared a self-styled "caliphate" in parts of Iraq and Syria.

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Rare suicide attack south of Baghdad kills 8

A suicide attack has killed 8 people in Baghdad with further bombs and attacks injuring others

 News Desk

Nine people were killed in separate bomb attacks and violence around the Iraqi capital Baghdad late Sunday, according to an official security source.

Nasr al-Hanun, an Iraqi police first lieutenant, told Anadolu Agency that one civilian was killed and six injured when a bomb-laden car exploded in the Al-Ubeydi area east of Baghdad.

Separately, at least two people were killed and six injured in a bomb attack near a marketplace in the Al-Vahde area south of Baghdad, Al-Hanun added.

Another bomb attack in Baghdad’s Abu-Gurayb district claimed two lives; eight other people were also injured.

Al-Hanun also said a separate bomb attack during a ceremony of Shia citizens in Al-Gadr area killed one civilian and injured seven.

The senior officer added that one other civilian was shot to death in the Hayyu'l Amil district in Baghdad's southwest. Meanwhile, the bodies of two men, believed to have been shot previously, were found by the roadside in Baghdad’s Et-Talibiyye district.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when ISIL captured the northern city of Mosul – now the subject of a large offensive to retake it – and overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country. 

According to the UN, more than 3.4 million people are now displaced in Iraq – more than half of them children – while more than 10 million are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

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Iranian commander met PKK leader in Iraq

Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani met leader of PKK terrorist group in Iraq’s Al-Sulaymaniyah, Kurdish website reports

News Desk

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, recently met Cemil Bayik, a leader of the PKK terrorist group, in Iraq’s northern city of Al-Sulaymaniyah, a Kurdish website has reported.

According to the basnews website, Soleimani asked Bayik to send PKK militants in Sinjar to take part in an ongoing campaign aimed at capturing Iraq’s northern city of Mosul from the ISIL terrorist group.

Linked to the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), the basnews website is based in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

While in Al-Sulaymaniyah (also located in the Kurdish region), Soleimani reportedly promised Bayik that Iran would increase its financial and military support to the PKK if the group’s fighters took part in the Mosul campaign.

He also reportedly asked Bayik to bolster the PKK’s presence in parts of Iraq that fall within Iran’s sphere of influence.

According to the website, the meeting came directly after members of Iraq’s central government "provided facilities to the PKK in Baghdad in which to establish a military and political headquarters".

However, Shahfan Abdullah, an MP for the KDP and a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, pointed out that, according to an agreement with a U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition, PKK militants would be targeted if they approached Mosul from the Sinjar Mountain region.

This, he said, did not only apply to the PKK, but also to the Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia and affiliated groups.

Established in mid-2014 with the express aim of fighting ISIL, the Hashd al-Shaabi is an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias.

Abdullah went on to assert that Iranian military experts had recently visited the Mosul front and held a number of meetings with Hashd al-Shaabi leaders. 

Peshmerga forces announce capture of Iraq’s Bashiqa

Town ‘entirely liberated’ from ISIL terrorist group, Kurdish Regional Government official says

 News Desk

Kurdish Peshmerga forces Tuesday "entirely liberated" Iraq’s town of Bashiqa northeast of Mosul, a Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) official has said.

Jabar Yawar, head of the KRG’s Peshmerga Ministry, said the district had been entirely purged of ISIL elements after Peshmerga forces captured the town center Monday.

Peshmerga fighters, he said, were currently clearing the area of landmines and booby-traps planted by members of the terrorist group.

According to Anadolu Agency correspondents in Bashiqa, clashes continue to break out sporadically between Peshmerga fighters and militants holed up in homes and tunnels.

The majority-Ezidi town of Bashiqa lies some 12 kilometers (roughly 8 miles) to the northeast of Mosul, ISIL’s last bastion in northern Iraq.

Turkey has a longstanding military training mission at the nearby Camp Bashiqa, where Turkish soldiers have trained both Peshmerga fighters and local tribal volunteers in combat techniques.

In recent months, the mission’s presence in northern Iraq has led to a degree of tension between Baghdad and Ankara amid calls by some Iraqi lawmakers for Turkish troops to withdraw from the area.

Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul.

In mid-2014, ISIL captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory, especially on Mosul’s outskirts and in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

Iraq army, allies win more ground 3 weeks into Mosul op

Iraqi forces register fresh gains to north and southwest of ISIL-held Mosul

News Desk

The Iraqi army and its allies continue to make gains in and around ISIL-held Mosul amid an ongoing operation now in its fourth week to oust the extremist group from its last stronghold in northern Iraq.

In a Sunday statement, General Abdulamir Rashid Yarullah, head of the army's Nineveh Operations Command, announced that Iraqi forces had captured three villages to Mosul’s southwest and another village and district to the north of the city.

The general added that two ISIL commanders had been killed to the city’s south and east, while Iraqi forces southeast of Mosul had captured a tank and a large weapons cache from the militants.

On Oct. 18, the army, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, which ISIL overran along with additional territory in northern and western Iraq in mid-2014.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army retake much territory, especially on the outskirts of Mosul regional capital of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province and in the western province of Anbar.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 22,000 people have been displaced since the Mosul campaign began three weeks ago.

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Thousands flee Mosul amid anti-ISIL offensive

The new influx takes to around 30,000 the number of people who have fled Mosul since last month

 News Desk

Thousands of civilians have reportedly fled the northern city of Mosul amid raging battles between Iraqi forces and ISIL militants. 

“More than 3,000 civilians have fled eastern Mosul in the past 24 hours,” Iyad Rafed of the Iraqi Red Crescent told Anadolu Agency on Saturday. 

He said the displaced civilians have been transferred to al-Khazir refugee camp, 30 kilometers east of Mosul. 

The new influx takes to around 30,000 the number of people who have fled Mosul since the Iraqi army launched a wide-ranging offensive last month to oust ISIL from Mosul. 

In mid-2014, ISIL captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west. 

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory. 

Baghdadi urges attack on Turkey in audio message

Iraqi ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has urged his fighter to attack Turkey as well as members of the ruling Al Saud monarch and media outlets in Saudi Arabia

News Desk

Militant leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on his fighters to resist as Iraqi forces were poised to enter the city of Mosul where he declared a "caliphate" two years ago.

"Do not retreat," said a voice presented as belonging to the leader of ISIL in an audio message released early Thursday by the IS-affiliated Al-Furqan media.

"Holding your ground with honour is a thousand times easier than retreating in shame," he said in the message, his first in more than a year.

"To all the people of Nineveh, especially the fighters, beware of any weakness in facing your enemy," Baghdadi said, referring to the northern Iraqi province of which Mosul is the capital.

In the 31-minute-long recording, Baghdadi expressed confidence that ISIL will be victorious in Mosul, and told his followers to invade Turkey.

"Unleash the fire of your anger on Turkish troops in Syria" the terrorist leader said and added:

"Turkey today entered your range of action and the aim of your struggle ... invade it and turn its safety into fear.''

Baghdadi claimed that Turkey is cooperating with atheists, therefore deserves to be attacked and targeted.

 Rumours have abounded about the Iraqi leader's health and movements but his whereabouts are unclear.

In June 2014, days after militant fighters swept across swathes of Iraq, he made a rare public appearance in Mosul and announced the creation of an Islamic "state" straddling Iraq and Syria.

The "caliphate" has been shrinking steadily since last year and Iraqi forces earlier this week reached Mosul, the fighters' last major stronghold in Iraq.

The US-led coalition estimates there are 3,000 to 5,000 IS fighters inside the city but the final outcome of the battle appears to be in little doubt.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces, backed by the US-led coalition and its warplanes, launched a massive offensive on Mosul on October 17.

US talks Raqqah seizure with Turkey

Turkey’s cooperation in Syria ‘extremely important’, US defense chief says

News Desk

The U.S. and Turkey are deliberating the “final seizure of Raqqah”, Defense Ash Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday.

“With respect to Raqqah, we intend to go there soon with the force that is capable of doing that, and enveloping the city of Raqqah,” Carter told reporters at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

“Then final seizure of Raqqah. We continue to talk to Turkey about that, and a possible role for Turkey in that further down the road.”

The defense chief said cooperation between the U.S. and Turkey in Syria is “extremely important,” in light of the success of Operation Euphrates Shield that Ankara launched in August to clear ISIL along its border from Jarabulus and Azaz.

Carter also commend a Turkish-backed operation that used the Free Syrian Army late last month to retake the Syrian city of Dabiq that ISIL named its propaganda magazine.

Iraqi army, allies retake 5 more villages near Mosul

More villages on Mosul’s outskirts fall before army advance as US-led coalition aircraft strike ISIL positions in city

News Desk

The Iraqi army and its allies on Monday announced the recapture of five more villages near the northern city of Mosul, according to official statements.

The assertions come hours after the army’s Joint Operations Command announced the launch of the second phase of the campaign -- now in its third week -- to retake the city from the ISIL extremist group.

"Iraqi army forces have managed to capture the villages of Tobruk and Tahrawa southeast of Mosul," Lieutenant-General Abdul-Amir Yarallah, head of the Iraqi army’s Nineveh Operations Command, said in a statement read out on state television.

In a separate statement, the army’s War Information Unit declared that security forces had also retaken the villages of Najmoum and Tal al-Yabis, both of which are located north of the ISIL-held city.

According to a third statement issued by the Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias operating in tandem with the Iraqi army, Shia militiamen had captured the village of Eastern Dalawiyah west of Mosul.

In a related development the same day, 13 ISIL militants were killed -- and 22 others injured -- by a fierce aerial bombardment by U.S.-led coalition warplanes of ISIL positions inside Mosul, according to Army Major Muhannad Saif al-Din.

"Coalition aircraft in recent hours have stepped up their activities over the skies of Mosul, forcing the militants to retreat from their positions towards residential parts of the city," Saif al-Din said.

Since the Mosul operation began two weeks ago, dozens of ISIL-held villages on the city’s outskirts have fallen before the army onslaught.

Nevertheless, the extremist group remains in control of the city, which it overran in mid-2014.

On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army, backed by a U.S.-led air coalition, began a wide-ranging operation to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and capital of the northern Nineveh province.

Iraqi army takes 2 more villages from ISIL

Mosul is the last ISIL stronghold in northern Iraq

News Desk

Iraqi forces have captured two more villages near the northern city of Mosul from ISIL militants, according to an Iraqi army officer.

Ahmed al-Shemari, a captain in the Iraqi army’s Nineveh Operations Command, said army forces seized control of the villages of al-Hokool and Ali Rash north and east of Mosul.

On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a much-anticipated operation to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city which ISIL overran in mid-2014.

While most villages on the city’s outskirts have since fallen, ISIL remains in control of Mosul, the last ISIL stronghold in northern Iraq.