Northern Iraq offensive

Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in west Mosul reached the city's southernmost bridge on Feb. 27, a key step in efforts to defeat the jihadists in their stronghold, a spokesman said, as thousands of civilians fled the fighting.

The United States is not about to plunder Iraq's petroleum reserves, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who arrived in Baghdad on Feb. 20, said as he sought to soothe partners rattled by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 32 people on Jan. 2 in Baghdad.

The jihadist organization took responsibility for the blast in Sadr City via its propaganda agency Amaq, claiming the "martyrdom operation" had killed around 40 people.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed three suicide car bombs that killed at least 15 civilians and eight Iraqi policemen on Dec. 22 in an eastern suburb of Mosul, according to a military statement. 

The attacks targeted Kokjali, a suburb that the authorities said they had retaken from the jihadists almost two months ago. 

Up to 500,000 civilians in Mosul face a "catastrophic" drinking water shortage as Iraqi forces advance on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the city, the United Nations warned on Nov. 30.

Jihadist fighters unleashed a deluge of bombs and gunfire on Nov. 4 on Iraqi forces, which said it had taken six neighborhoods while punching into the streets of Mosul for the first time, forcing some units into a partial pullback.

Iraqi forces entered Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-held Mosul on Nov. 3 for the first time in more than two years since the jihadists took control of the city and were battling ISIL militants on the front line, CNN International quoted Iraqi defense officials as saying.

The leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has expressed confidence in victory as Iraqi forces entered the city of Mosul where he declared a “caliphate” two years ago.

A spokesman of a Shiite militia said Nov. 2 that its fighters have gained control of a highway linking the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-held city of Mosul to the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the militants' self-proclaimed caliphate.

Turkish Armed Forces have begun deploying tanks and other armored vehicles from the Ankara-based 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade to Silopi in Şırnak near the border with Iraq, Anadolu Agency reported Nov. 1, three days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the country would reinforce its troops along its border.