US-backed Iraqi forces eliminated 93 Islamic State (ISIS/Da’esh) terrorist fighters in air strikes carried out over western Mosul. Iraqi helicopters reportedly flew 22 sorties to get the job done.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Sunday the start of the offensive to expel the terrorist group from the northern city and to end their dream for taking over the country.
There are approximately 650,000 civilians in the western part of Mosul, including those who were forced out of the eastern part of the city. Coalition forces together with Iraqi fighters pushed Islamic State terrorists from that section of the city in a 100-day offensive that ended last month.
But most of the civilians who have survived from both sides still face an existential risk due to the battle being waged around them, due to the possibility of being used as human shields by Islamic State terrorists, or simply due to thirst and/or starvation.