Press TV - Iraqi security forces have discovered a network of long tunnels used by members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group during a clean-up operation in the countrys second largest city Mosul.
Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat said on Saturday that they had found the tunnels in the southern part of the Old City of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, English-language online newspaper Iraqi News reported.
He added that police forces had also uncovered a stash of projectiles belonging to the Daesh terrorists in the area.
On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory over Daesh in Mosul, which served as the terrorists main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.
Mosul's liberation came on the heels of sweeping gains against Daesh by Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Shaabi.
The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.
An estimated 862,000 people were initially displaced from Mosul due to the liberation operation.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"]
A member of Iraqi forces holds a position in west Mosul on July 13, 2017, a few days after the government's announcement of the liberation of the embattled city from Daesh terrorists. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]Iraqi Minister of Displacement and Migration Jassim Mohammed al-Jaaf said on Wednesday that 253,000 internally displaced people had returned to their homes in Mosul after government forces and Hashd al-Shaabi retook the strategic northern city from Daesh.
Separately, Captain Amir Watheq from Nineveh provincial police force told BasNews news agency that security forces had killed more than a dozen Daesh Takfiris who were trying to sneak into a village south of Mosul.
He noted that security personnel had engaged the terrorists during an infiltration attempt into al-Houd village in Qayyarah subdistrict, which lies on the western bank of Tigris River and some 60 kilometers south of Mosul, killing 13 of them.
Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive there more than two years ago, and took control of portions of Iraqi territory.
Iraqi army soldiers and pro-government fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units are engaged in joint operations to win back militant-held areas.
