Two kids wounded as Islamic State missile lands near eastern Mosul school

Two kids were wounded Wednesday as a mortar shell fired by Islamic State militants landed near a primary school in eastern Mosul, security sources were quoted saying.
The missile landed near a school in Sumer district, seriously injuring the pair, according to the source, who said the missile was possibly fired from areas under IS control in the western side of the city.

Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State militants in January after three months of fighting, but, since then, the militants have waged occasional attacks on that area using suicide bombers, drones and mortar missiles, leading to casualties among civilians and security troops. Botched military strikes by Iraqi troops and the international coalition have also been blamed for hundreds of civilian casualties since the launch of operations.

The government troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, launched another offensive in February to retake the western region, with Iraqi commanders announcing recently they became in control over 60 percent of that area. Security officials have said IS now controls less than seven percent of Iraqi territory.

Battles are currently concentrated in and around the Old City, an ancient area which hosts the mosque where Islamic State supreme commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Source: /Iraqi News