Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 35 ISIS

The Iraqi Federal Police have gained control on a huge Islamic State military base in Mosul. In a statement, Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat, chief of Federal Police, said the troops were able to control a training center known as ‘Abu Massoud camp’ at al-Bouseif village, west of Mosul.

The camp, according to Jawdat, is located 10 meters under the ground on area of 1,500 meters. Moreover, the troops gained full control on al-Sarjkhana street reaching to Tigris River, the source added.

Special forces of the Federal Police controlled al-Shawaf building in al-Nujeifi region, in the Old City, according to Jawdat. Snipers are deployed on the top of the building to secure the troops in the region. Fifteen IS militants were killed, he added.

On Wednesday, Jawdat declared death of around sixty Islamic State militants, including snipers, while combing Mosul’s Old City regions. Four regions including al-Nujeifi, al-Sarai and parts of Lakash and Bab Jadid were still held by IS, Jawdat declared earlier this week. Once liberated, Federal Police will announce accomplishing its goals there.

Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, have been fighting against IS fighters since mid October. The eastern side of Mosul was recaptured in January after three months of battles. Another offensive was launched in February to retake the western flank of the city. Last week, troops took over the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir Mosque where IS first declared its self-styled “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

In the same context, Iraqi government forces on Saturday took control over western Mosul’s medieval Old City, the last bastion for Islamic State militants in Iraq’s second largest city, Iraqi media quoted the operations command saying.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul, was quoted saying forces took control over the Old City, the birthplace of Islamic State’s self-styled “caliphate” in Iraqi and Syria which was declared in 2014, suggesting the end of IS’s three-year existence in the city.

The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said earlier that government forces killed 35 Islamic State members and wounded six others while sneaking from the western side of Mosul into the eastern side. It also said Federal Police forces finished their combat missions in the Old City by retaking Nujaifi street, Bab al-Toub and Souk al-Sagha (jewelry market), all previously marked as the last spots remaining in IS grip.

The statement said the militants were escaping the advancing troops in the Old City. Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, have been fighting IS out of Mosul since mid October. Late June, troops took over the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir Mosque where IS first declared the establishment of its rule  in 2014 in a sermon delivered by the supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Iraqi generals  had said  only a few hundred militants remain in a small area in neighborhoods overlooking the Tigris River, which bisects the city. The war against IS  in Mosul has displaced at least 900.000, according to Iraqi and United Nations authorities, and civilians continued to flee as operations reached the last hideouts in the Old City.

On the other hand, Islamic State fighters pledged Saturday to fight to death as Iraqi troops besiege them in the last few meters they are holding in western Mosul near the Tigris River. Islamic State’s Amaq news agency said in a statement that fighters would fight till “martyrdom” in Midan, a district near the western bank of Tigris River which bisects Mosul.

The declaration came as commanders from the Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition commanders said less than 250 meters remained under the group’s control in western Mosul. Military media reported earlier on Saturday that police and army troops converged at the river’s bank.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasoul, was quoted saying forces took control over the Old City, the birthplace of Islamic State’s self-styled “caliphate” in Iraqi and Syria which was declared in 2014.

Iraqi media reports said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was expected to make an official statement later on Saturday declaring the end of Mosul operations and victory over IS, ending the group’s  three-year occupation of Iraq’s second largest city.

Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, have been fighting IS out of Mosul since mid October. Late June, troops took over the Old City’s Nuri al-Kabir Mosque where IS first declared the establishment of its rule  in 2014 in a sermon delivered by the supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.