ISIS attacked eastern Mosul, IED kills 3 children in the western part of the city

Iraqi army forces fought off an attack by Islamic State in northeastern Mosul, while an IED explosion killed three children in the western region, military and security sources said Tuesday.
Major Ali Mohsen, form the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces, was quoted by Bas News as saying that Islamic State militants carried out a wide-scale attack on the villages of Geliokhana and Rashidiya, northeast of the city, which were among the last few regions security forces recaptured from the extremist group in the east.

“The group launched the attack using suicide bombers and booby-trapped vehicles,” said Mohsen, who added that army forces, backed by aircraft from the U.S.-led international military coalition, managed to hold them off.

Security forces intensified their deployment in the area after the attack, said Mohsen, who added that forces are also besieging villages in the west preparing to invade them.

In western Mosul, a local source said three children were killed when an explosive device planted by Islamic State militants in their home exploded.

The source, who asked not to be named, told Alsumaria News that the house belonged to a security agent who had previously been executed by IS militants two years earlier. “It was booby-trapped a while ago by the group as part of its strategy to booby-trap houses as security forces near launching operations to retake western Mosul,” said the source. “The reason the children entered the home is still a mystery,” he added.

The Iraqi government said on January 24th its forces became in full control over eastern Mosul after three months of battles with IS. Preparations are running to invade the group-held west.

Source: /Iraqi News