Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan) (Sputnik) — Iraqi army on Monday freed eight villages north of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh), the operation command said.
In addition to the liberation of the settlements, the Iraqi Army's 16th Infantry Division was able to detect and destroy four secret underground passages used by insurgents to attack government forces.
Mosul, the second biggest Iraqi city, as well as a number of other northern and western Iraqi cities and towns were seized in 2014 during an offensive of the Daesh terror group, which had gained resources from illicit trade of oil produced at the occupied territories.
Iraqi forces backed by the US-led coalition against the Daesh launched the operation to reclaim Mosul from the extremist group, outlawed in Russia and the United States among others, on October 17.
