PMU Commander:Iraqi forces progress in Daesh-held Mosul Old City

A high-ranking Iraqi security commander says Iraqi forces have made territorial gains in the western part of Mosul as they battle to drive Daesh Takfiri militants out of their last bastion in the country’s second largest city.

A high-ranking Iraqi security commander says Iraqi forces have made territorial gains in the western part of Mosul as they battle to drive Daesh Takfiri militants out of their last bastion in the country’s second largest city.

Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Shaker Jawdat said on Sunday that security personnel had advanced 100 meters in the militant-held Old City of Mosul, only hours after they began their assault to retake the rest of Mosul, Arabic-language Mawazin news agency reported.

Separately, Syrian soldiers have linked up with Iraqi army troops for the first time in years after they took control of a vast territory in Syria’s semi-arid southeastern region of al-Badiya.

Other news outlets reported on Sunday that the army units, in cooperation with allies, had managed to liberate 25,000 square kilometers (9,600 square miles) of land during a campaign in the border region in recent weeks.