The elegant columns of a west Mosul church stand plastered with Islamic State group propaganda after the jihadists’ infamous religious police took over the Christian place of worship. The sign above the door of Um al-Mauna (Our Mother of Perpetual Help) in Iraq’s second city reads “Chaldean Catholic church”, but its jihadist occupants had other … Read more
Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to lead the battle against Iraqi forces advancing in the city. With Iraqi troops making steady progress in their assault to retake Mosul from the jihadists, a US defence official said Baghdadi had fled to avoid being trapped … Read more
Iraqi forces in west Mosul worked to clear bombs and searched for jihadist fighters in recaptured areas on Wednesday to set the stage for renewed offensive operations, officers said. Iraqi security forces launched a major operation to retake west Mosul — the Islamic State group’s last major urban bastion in the country — on February … Read more
Iraqi security forces recaptured the Mosul museum, where Islamic State group militants infamously filmed themselves smashing priceless artefacts, police said on Tuesday. Iraqi forces “recaptured the archaeological museum,” Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat said in a statement, without specifying when this occurred. The museum was on a police list of sites recaptured from IS during … Read more
A mother-of-two sobs as she carries her young son down a street in war-torn Mosul following heavy clashes today between the Iraqi Army and ISIS. Iraqi forces have taken more territory in the west of the city from the jihadists as the number of people fleeing the city reaches 45,000. Since launching an offensive on … Read more