Iraqi government forces have liberated all but 16 of the districts in Mosul from the ISIS jihadist group, the Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said.
"Most of Mosul and its surroundings in Nineveh province have been liberated. This is 40 out of 56 districts. Work is beginning to liberate the remaining 16 districts," Sputnik cited Jaafari as saying.
The Iraqi diplomat attributed a slowdown in the campaign to the terrorists' use of civilians as human shields, as well as "vast stocks of modern weapons."
The operation to retake Mosul from terrorists has been continuing since October 17. The battle for the city began with 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and 30,000 Iraqi soldiers backed by the US-led anti-terror coalition advancing on the city from the east, west and south. Mosul has been occupied by ISIS since 2014.
