MOSUL, Iraq — Following the fall of the Ma’amil neighborhood in west Mosul to the Iraqi forces May 10, “only 15 neighborhoods remained under control of IS [the Islamic State] in Mosul, all of which are surrounded by the Iraqi forces,” said Bashar al-Kiki, the head of the Ninevah Provincial Council. In order to manage the liberation of the remaining areas, the Iraqi joint forces announced a plan to divide the areas into different parts, each of which has been assigned to specific forces.
In the area of Bab al-Jadid in west Mosul, which is held by the federal police, suicide attackers infiltrated the front line April 28 and one killed a staff colonel in charge of the area before blowing himself up, Col. Mohammad Hussein Salman told Al-Monitor two days later in an interview at the site of the attack.