The battle for Mosul

[Peter1469]

Much of the eastern side of Mosul is under Iraqi control now. A new push from the southeast is meeting steep resistance. But as said in a post above, 4 of the 5 bridges over the Tigris have been disabled (not destroyed) making ISIL's logistics efforts much harder on the eastern side of the river.

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Significant Islamic State group counterattacks in southeastern Mosul inflicted heavy losses on Iraqi forces overnight after a new push deeper into the city this week, according to an Iraqi Army officer.

Despite the counterattacks, the fresh Iraqi push appears to have relieved pressure on Iraq’s special forces who have been largely leading the fight inside the city on the eastern front. Wednesday afternoon, the special forces announced new gains. The troops retook another neighborhood bringing them closer to the Tigris River that divides Mosul’s east from west, according to the commander of a joint operations center that oversees the Mosul campaign.

Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarellah, said in a statement that troops had “fully liberated” the al-Elam neighborhood and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings. Yarellah added that IS militants “suffered losses” without elaborating.