Iraqi forces impose curfew in Mosul’s eastern districts

By Mohamed Waleed

NINEVEH, Iraq

Iraqi forces on Thursday imposed a curfew in parts of eastern Mosul recently captured from the Daesh terrorist group, according to a military source.

"On Thursday morning, the army imposed a curfew in the Kokjali area, one of the first neighborhoods in eastern Mosul to be retaken from Daesh," Army Captain Taha al-Mashhadani told Anadolu Agency.

The curfew will remain in effect until local homes are inspected and searches for wanted militants are conducted, he said.

According to al-Mashhadani, vehicles have been prevented from entering the area and local shops have been temporarily closed.

He did not say when the curfew -- which began at 10:20 GMT -- would be lifted.

In recent days, Iraqi forces have recaptured a number of Mosul’s eastern neighborhoods from the terrorist group.

According to Army Lieutenant-General Abdel-Wahab al-Saedi, a commander of Iraq’s anti-terrorism forces, Iraqi forces have continued to register gains in the city’s northeastern districts as well, capturing the Al-Muharibeen neighborhood on Wednesday.

Iraqi forces, al-Saedi said, had also managed to establish control over some 90 percent of the city’s densely-populated Al-Khadrah neighborhood.

He went on to note that Iraqi forces had also recently moved into Mosul’s northeastern Al-Amin and Al-Jameaa districts after driving Daesh terrorists out both areas.

Five weeks ago, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- began a wide-ranging operation to retake Mosul, Daesh’s last bastion in northern Iraq.

Once Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population, Mosul was overrun by the terrorist group -- along with large parts of the country’s northern and western regions -- in mid-2014.