Iraqi forces near Mosul city

Bartalla, October 31 

Forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) faced mortar fire as they pushed from the Christian town of Bartalla towards Mosul’s eastern suburbs, AFP correspondents at the front said.

As an aircraft struck a suspected IS mortar position in the distance, a convoy of Humvees sprayed gunfire across the arid plain at an area held by jihadists.

Lieutenant Colonel Muntadhar al-Shimmari said CTS had recaptured Bazwaya, one of two IS-held villages that had been standing between Iraqi forces and the eastern edges of Mosul.

“Tonight, if everything is secured, we will be 700 metres from Mosul,” Shimmari said. CTS forces had entered the second village, Gogjali, and were battling to retake it, Staff Lt General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, a senior CTS commander said. 

He denied reports that Iraqi forces had entered the Al- Karama area - about 2.5 kms from Gogjali - inside Mosul.

Backed by air and ground support from a US-led coalition, tens of thousands of Iraqi fighters are converging on Mosul on different fronts, in the country’s biggest military operation in years. — AFP