Iraqi special forces capture more land in eastern Mosul

Commander of US-led coalition said the battle for Mosul could take two more months.

Iraqi Special Forces soldiers on the main road from Erbil to Mosul, in the village of Bartala, Iraq. A senior Iraqi commander says special forces captured a new neighborhood from ISIL militants in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 - the latest gain in a massive government military operation now in its seventh week. Manu Brabo / APShow less

MOSUL // Iraq special forces captured a new neighbourhood from ISIL in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, according to a senior commander – the latest gain in a massive military operation now its seventh week.

It came as the commander of the US-led coalition fighting the extremists said the battle for Mosul could take two more months.

“I think they are going to be working on Mosul for a number of weeks more, maybe a couple of months more probably,” said US Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend.

“I think we are not done when Mosul is over”, he added. “We are still not done in Iraq. We are still about a third of the Euphrates River valley up to the Syrian border that has to be cleared. There is still a tough fight ahead even after Mosul.”

Iraqi Lieutenant General Abdul-Amir Yarellah, the commander of a joint operations centre that oversees the Mosul campaign, said on Wednesday that troops had “fully liberated” the city’s Al Elam neighbourhood and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings. He added that ISIL militants had “suffered losses” without elaborating.

The announcement came hours after an overnight attack carried out by ISIL militants against Iraqi security forces in the southeastern part of Mosul, a day after troops advanced deeper into that part of the city.

The attack “inflicted heavy losses,” said Iraqi army Sergent Major Hakim Saranbii, but gave no specific casualty figures or further details.

On Tuesday, army troops had rolled into the southeastern neighbourhood of Al Salam, taking a hospital before meeting stiff resistance from ISIL militants. Convoys of dozens of armoured Iraqi special forces and army Humvees could be seen moving into the southeastern neighbourhood on Wednesday morning.

* Associated Press, Reuters