Press TV- In their latest push to liberate Mosul, Iraqi forces say they havewon back full control of the citys southern front,killing over 950 members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.
Federal police chiefGeneralShaker Jodat said late Friday troops had purged 1,850 square kilometers of Mosuls southern front of Daesh militants and freed more than 10,000 families, theal-Sumarianews website reported.
The Iraqi soldiers destroyed 25 car bombs, 83 motorbikebombs, 92 explosive belts and some vehicles equipped with weapons and missiles during their advances in the area, Jodat said.
He further noted that police forces had confiscated 36 mortarshells containing chemicals.
Meanwhile, Iraq's War MediaCellreported that Hashd al-Sha'abi forces had detained seven Daesh elements in the eastern province of Diyala.
Sadiqal-Husseini, the chairman of the security committee inDiyalaprovincial council, said that the arrests had beenmade in three different operations across the region.
New mass grave found
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces have found a mass grave containing the remains of suspected victims of Daesh executions in a village recently retaken from the Takfiri terrorists near Mosul.
A team of AFP journalists visited the site behind a small sand-covered hill outside the village of Tall ad-Dhahab about 10 km south of Mosul on Friday, the news agency said.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"]
Iraqi policemen try to pull a body from a mass grave discovered in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, November 7, 2016. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]Iraqi Lieutenant Yahya Jumma said locals believe that some 40 people may be buried at the ground.
"The majority of the victimswere members of the security forces, army and police," he said, adding the terroristsbrought them by pickup trucks.
"There were around 40 people according to eyewitnesses who saw them, he said.
The visiting journalists reported meter-high mounds at the entrance to the shallow pit and an overpowering stench with bone fragments scattered around the area. They said scraps of clothing and several bullet casings could be seen at the site.
Iraqi forces have discovered a number of Daesh mass graves in the countrys liberated districts, among them the one found last week near the agricultural college of the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"]
A member of Iraqi security forces gestures towards a mass grave discovered in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, November 9, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)[/caption]Authorities are conducting an investigation at the site with Human Rights Watch estimating that the graveyard could contain some 300 bodies.
Hashd al-Sha'abi cuts Mosul-Raqqah supply route
Hashd al-Sha'abi forces on Fridaysaid that they were set to cut the road to Syria that has been used by Daesh as a supply route over the past two years.
We are now in the process of cutting the main supply road between Mosul and Raqqah, which runs behind the [Tal Afar] airport, commander Shiekh Abu Karra Abadi told the Middle East Eye news portal.
"It was crucial for us to clear all this area to the west and cut the road so the Iraqi army can clear Mosul of Daeshwithout them being able to flee," he added.
The volunteer forceswrested control of Tal Afar airport in western Mosul late on Wednesday.
Abadi said Daesh elements had retreated, some into Tal Afar city and some to Mosul. He hundreds of the militants had put up resistance to defend the supply route to Syria.
Secretary General of Iraqs Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri also said the Iraqi soldiers were in control of the area south-west of Mosul and wouldcontinue advancing until closing the Iraq-Syria border.
Gains across Nineveh province
Also on Friday, Iraqi fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units liberated more areas in the embattled province of Nineveh, with Mosul as its capital.
The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant GeneralAbdul Amir Yarallah, said that soldiers from the 9th Division of Special Forces have wrested full control of Tal Waeivillage south of Mosul, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.
The development came shortly after security forces recaptured the village ofOmarkan, located north ofthe ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and slightly over 30 kilometers south of Mosul.
Since October 17, the Iraqi army, volunteer Shia and Sunni fighters as well as Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been conducting an offensive to recapture Mosul.
The city fell to Daesh in 2014, the year the terror outfit began its campaign of death and destruction in northern and western Iraq.
Since the beginning of the Mosul battle, the 140,000-strong Hashd al-Sha'abi forces have liberated over 1,300 square kilometers of territory from the grip of terrorists, including more than 60 villages.
