Iraqi army says it reached center of key
town south of Mosul
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[September 22, 2016]
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's
military backed by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition on Thursday
seized the center of Shirqat, a northern town seen as a stepping stone
in the campaign to recapture Mosul from Islamic State.
The army, backed by local police and Sunni Muslim tribal fighters, were
still clashing with the ultra-hardline jihadists after taking control of
the mayor's office, the municipal building and the hospital, said a
source from the Salahuddin Operations Command, which oversees military
operations in the area.
Shirqat, on the Tigris river 100 km (60 miles) south of Mosul, has been
surrounded by Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias
allied to the government but the militias so far have not participated
in the operation.
Iraqi forces have advanced swiftly through the Shirqat area since Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the operation on Tuesday morning.
The town's proximity to Iraqi supply lines reaching Qayyara airbase
further north, which will be used as a logistics hub for the push on
Mosul, lends it strategic importance. A rocket attack on Tuesday that
came within hundreds of meters of U.S. forces at the base is being
tested for chemical agents.
Remaining Islamic State fighters in Shirqat are resisting in groups of
three and four from inside houses, according to the Iraqi operations
command source, who said three army personnel had been killed in recent
hours.
Tens of thousands of civilians were thought to be trapped in the area,
which has been under Islamic State control since the group seized a
third of Iraqi territory in 2014. But the operation has not generated
the large-scale displacement seen in other recent campaigns.
A spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said there had
been no displacement on Tuesday and only 32 people dislodged from their
homes on Wednesday.
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Iraqi soldiers fire a rocket toward Islamic State militants on the
outskirts of the Makhmour south of Mosul, Iraq, March 25, 2016.
REUTERS/Azad Lashkaril/File Photo
Iraqi authorities hope the course of the battle will allow most
residents to shelter in place to avoid creating a humanitarian crisis as
forces move toward Mosul, where more than a million people are still
living.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have said the push on Mosul could begin in
October, though there are concerns that not enough planning has been
done for how to manage the city, Iraq's second-largest, if and when
Islamic State is expelled.
Hawija, east of Shirqat, is the other remaining Islamic State bastion
south of Mosul. The group also controls the city of Tel Afar, west of
Mosul towards the Syrian border.
(Writing by Stephen Kalin; editing by Ralph Boulton)
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