Iraqi troops gained a foothold Tuesday in another neighborhood in the northern city of Mosul after fierce battles against Islamic State militants dug in behind heavy fortifications, according to a top Iraqi commander.
A new analysis, meanwhile, has found that there is a high risk that IS will deploy chemical weapons against Mosul civilians or Iraqi troops fighting to retake the city. According to IHS Markit, the extremist group has used chemical weapons at least 52 times in Iraq and Syria since 2014, including 19 times in the Mosul area alone.
Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil, of the Iraqi special forces, told The Associated Press that IS fighters were firing rockets and mortars as his forces “cautiously” advanced in the densely populated Zohour neighborhood. “There are too many civilians still living there,” he said.
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