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The territorial gain, which followed the recapture of a key air base nearby at the weekend, further isolated Mosul in preparation for a government assault to recover Iraq's second largest city 60 km (40 miles) to the north. "Forces from the 9th Armoured Division and the counter-terrorism service liberated Ajhala village north of Qayara base," Obeidi said on Twitter. "Our heroes arrived at the riverbank and made contact with Nineveh Liberation Operation units," he added, referring to troops who had set out from Makhmour, 25 km east of the Tigris, in March.
The newly retaken territory still needs to be secured since IS insurgents remain holed up in several towns behind the government's front line, a military spokesman said. Backed by air support from a U.S.-led military coalition, government forces on Saturday regained Qayara air base, which is to be turned into a logistics hub for the main assault on Mosul. On Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the dispatch of 560 additional soldiers to Iraq, most of whom will work from Qayara to assist the Iraqi thrust towards Mosul.
Iraqi soldiers gather to go battle against Islamic State militants south of Mosul, Iraq
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pledged to retake the city, the largest still held by IS, by year-end, but there is still debate in Washington about the timing of any move. Suicide bombings like the one in Baghdad on July 3 that killed nearly 300 people, one of the largest attacks since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago, suggest the group could remain a long-term threat. IS claimed another car bomb on Wednesday in Baghdad's northern outskirts that left nine people dead, according to medical and security sources.
On Wednesday, Abadi's government urged the postponing of demonstrations called for by powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr later this week to pressure political leaders to implement long-promised reforms. A statement from Abadi warned the protests could land the country in "chaos ... and end up serving the goals of the enemy and its terrorism". Sadr, whose supporters twice stormed Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone earlier this year, called for a reprieve from protests during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended last week.
Iraqi forces link up south of Mosul, tightening noose around Islamic State
Alessandra Vellucci told reporters that the passageway known as the Castello road, which is considered the only access in and out of eastern Aleppo, has been rendered "impassable" since hostilities there worsened starting Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile expressed concern that the U.N.'s Syria envoy was "shirking his responsibilities" to reconvene stalled peace talks. Lavrov said U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura was apparently waiting for Washington and Moscow to agree on a political transition before reconvening indirect talks between the Syrian government and the opposition that last broke down in April. "This is not the right approach," Lavrov said during a visit to Azerbaijan.
Lavrov said he was hoping to work out a common approach with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Moscow later this week based on a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending the five-year war. "On this basis we will then work with Staffan de Mistura so that he conscientiously fulfills his obligations," Lavrov said. Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has in recent months worked with the United States, which supports the rebels, to try and secure a cease-fire leading to a political transition, with no success. De Mistura's office declined to comment. He has set a target date of Aug. 1 to restart talks, but said conditions need to be ripe for progress toward political transition in Syria - what he has called the "mother of all issues." He has said that behind-the-scenes diplomacy has been continuing.
The fighting has meanwhile intensified in Aleppo, with rebels shelling government districts and warplanes striking rebel-held areas. Amid the heavy fighting, government forces were able to effective cut off the Castello road, raising fears of a new humanitarian crisis. The U.N. estimates that 300,000 people depend on Castello road. "We continue to receive distressing reports of aerial bombardment and shelling on civilian locations in both western and eastern Aleppo city," said Vellucci, the U.N. spokeswoman. She urged the parties "to take all measures to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access to all civilians living in Aleppo city, as required under international humanitarian law."
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Really? It is Iraq, where the militias make up a huge share of the anti-ISIS forces. In Syria, except for Hezbollah, Shia militias only operate in the Aleppo province.`Cause Syria is a good example of 'too many cooks spoil the broth'.
