Iraqi military forces detains ISIS fighters hiding among last civilians in Mosul
The Iraqi military has detained dozens of ISIL fighters and supporters during a sweep of western Mosul’s Old City, where civilians still remain, according to a RIA Novosti reporter.
The reporter watched as Iraqi military forces sorted through city inhabitants, trying to identify militants hiding among the civilians. Some people are reportedly coming to the Iraqi military checkpoint in Makaui district, where they are questioned by intelligence officers. Some are identified as suspects and detained right away; others are moved on to the military checkpoint near the Al-Akrab bridge that connects the two parts of the city.
The wounded are moved to a nearby hospital set up by the local militia.
A source in anti-terrorism department told RIA Novosti that about 25 families of ISIS supporters have left the city, and that authorities have detained several women who actively helped the terrorists.
“Several women were detained after the investigation, since we confirmed they were among the ranks of ISIL administration,” the source said. According to him, the intelligence service has lists of data on Daesh fighters in Nineveh province.
The Iraqi military also added that several dozen militants were detained on suspicion of Daesh allegiance, both men and women. First, they will be taken to preliminary questioning facilities in Nineveh province; then they’ll be sent to Baghdad, where their fate will be decided.
One of the women, who is now detained in a sorting center, has told the army that special forces saved her from the wreckage of her house after it was destroyed by a car bomb. She said the military also saved her children and neighbors.
“ISIL fighters dug in in our districts, many of them are still there, and they say they are going to fight until the last drop of blood,” the Mosul woman said. The militants used the local population as a “human shield” and forbade even women with children to leave the war zone, she explained.
Source: Sputnik
