Mosul

The Ministry of Defense of Iraq has announced Thursday that Daesh terrorists have been eliminated or knocked out of all districts of the city of Mosul, Sky News Arabia reports.

The Iraqi military announced on Thursday that special forces had recaptured the iconic Mosul mosque where jihadist chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only known public appearance, AFP reported.

A top special forces commander told AFP that while the Nuri mosque - which was blown up by the Islamic State group last week -- was close to being recaptured, it had not been retaken yet.

Iraq's military said June 28 that it had retaken two more neighborhoods from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Mosul's Old City, bringing it closer to total control of the city.

The battle to take full control of Mosul from Islamic State of  Iraq and the Levant will be over in a few days and an attempted fight-back by the militants failed, an Iraqi general told Reuters on June 26.

More than 5 million children are in urgent need of aid in Iraq, the United Nations said on Thursday, describing the war on Islamic State as "one of the most brutal" in modern history.

"Across Iraq, children continue to witness sheer horror and unimaginable violence," the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement.

Iraqi forces began storming the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-held Old City of Mosul on June 18, an assault they hope will be the last in the eight-month campaign to seize the militants' stronghold.

The historic district is the last still under control of the  militants in the city which used to be their capital in Iraq. 

Writing in an encrypted chat room, Islamic State sympathizers and militants celebrated the three-year anniversary of the terrorist organization’s capture of Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city.

Despite losing most of Mosul to the U.S.-backed international coalition, the IS supporters vowed that they would return and take control over the entire city once more.

The top United Nations human rights official called on June 6 for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, saying it would benefit both sides after 50 years of enmity.

On the front lines, the jagged teeth of a young soldier’s bulldozer mark the beginning of Iraq’s territory and the end of the Islamic State’s.

Iraqi forces have recaptured around half of two neighborhoods in west Mosul that are among the targets of a broad offensive against jihadists launched last week, officers said on June 2.