Iraqi army clashes with IS near Qayyarah, south Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Islamic State (IS) insurgents responded with snipers and VBIEDs after the Iraqi army launched an offensive on a village near Qayyarah, south of Mosul, a military commander said on Monday.

At 4:00 a.m. on Monday, the Iraqi army attacked the village of Osaja located in the southeast of Qayyarah town, south of Mosul.

“The offensive is directed from the north and south of the village. The army is advancing inside Osaja,” Amin Shekhani, an Iraqi Army Commander in the area, told Kurdistan24.

Osaja is a large village, about 65 kilometers away from Mosul in the south. The village has been under the control of IS since June 2014.

IS responded to the Iraqi army by sending vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), said a military source.

“[IS] snipers are targeting the tiers of Iraqi army’s vehicles to prevent the units’ advance toward the village,” an Iraqi army soldier stated.

He added that the VBIEDs had wounded a commander and four other troops.

The soldiers told a Kurdistan24 reporter that the army had entered Osaja and clashes continue inside the village.

On July 9, the Iraqi army and counter-terrorism forces announced the liberation of Qayyarah Air Base that had been under the control of IS for two years.

Moreover, days after the rescue of the air base, jihadists detonated five oil fields in Qayyarah to smoke up the air and protect themselves from the warplanes’ strikes.

The Iraqi army’s offensives in Qayyarah area are part of a bigger military operation, which is retaking Mosul from IS, who have controlled the city since 2014.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany