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Iraq captures Mosul's al-Tenek district from Islamic State

By Andrew V. Pestano
Iraqi security forces advance during a military operation in west Mosul on March 5. File Photo by Omar Alhayali/EPA
Iraqi security forces advance during a military operation in west Mosul on March 5. File Photo by Omar Alhayali/EPA

April 25 (UPI) -- The Iraqi military said security forces captured Mosul's al-Tenek district from the Islamic State as part of ongoing efforts to free the city.

Iraqi military officials said the elite Counter Terrorism Service fully freed the al-Tenek district on Tuesday. Iraq's Joint Operations Command on Monday said security forces have captured about 70 percent of west Mosul, IraqiNews reported.

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The announcement follows an attack accused on an Islamic State sleeper cell against Iraqi Federal Police forces in the village of Hammam al-Alil, south Mosul, on Sunday. Iraqi police said up to six Islamic State suicide bombers dressed in police uniforms targeted officers.

Two suicide bombers detonated their explosives and another two were killed by police. A gunfight followed and Islamic State militants advanced about 300 feet away from a strategic Iraqi police post, Rudaw reported.

Iraq launched its military offensive to retake western Mosul from the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, ISIL and ISIS, on Feb. 19. The offensive to retake Mosul began Oct. 17, led by Iraqi security forces and aided by the Kurdish Peshmerga, a Shiite-led militia, and the U.S.-led international coalition. Iraq fully captured east Mosul in late January.

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The United Nation's International Organization for Migration in Iraq said last week that more than 331,000 people have been displaced from west Mosul since Feb. 25. Nearly half a million Iraqis have been displaced since the Mosul offensive began in October.

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