Iraqi forces find explosive belts, tunnels in village outside Mosul

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi forces found explosive belts and underground tunnels at a suspected Islamic State (IS) sleeper cell hideout in a village outside Mosul on Friday and conducted raids elsewhere in Nineveh Province.

According to a statement from the Defense Ministry, "Intelligence detachments affiliated with the 20th Infantry Division ... found a cache containing 2 explosive belts," as well as various stores of ammunition "and demolished 6 tunnels in the Al-Dabouni area, West of Mosul."

The ministry did not specify whether any arrests were made, nor if forces were pursuing suspects associated with the property.

The statement also said that soldiers from the same division carried out raids in Hassouna and al-Munqar villages in the district of Hamam al-'Alil, where "village residents played a major role in the success of the operation because of their cooperation with security forces."

Though IS, which took over Mosul in 2014 was militarily defeated in Iraq in late 2017, the group has continued to wage an insurgency by staging multiple bombings, killings, and kidnappings in several provinces including Nineveh.

Iraq launched the battle to retake Mosul on October 17, 2016, with the participation of 100,000 armed personnel, supported by the US-led international coalition.

On July 10, 2017, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi traveled to Mosul to announce its liberation and declared in a statement released that day, "In our unity, we will be able to eliminate the remaining gangs and their criminal cells and track them out of the border."

Although the eastern half of Mosul was spared the wholesale destruction experienced by the western half, the city as a whole is far from able to receive tens of thousands of displaced residents, let alone to provide them even basic services.