Daesh attacks kill 32 Iraqi soldiers in Mosul

By Mohamed Waleed and Serhad Shaker

BAGHDAD

At least 32 Iraqi soldiers were killed in Daesh attacks in western Mosul in the past 24 hours, according to an Iraqi police officer.

Three bombers attacked army positions in Al-Shifa district, northwest of Mosul, killing 12 soldiers and injuring four others, Lieutenant Ali al-Karbalai with the Rapid Response Forces told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

Thirteen soldiers were also killed in a spate of car bombings in Zanjili district, west of Mosul, he said.

“Two soldiers were also seriously injured in the bombings,” he said, adding that 11 military vehicles were destroyed in the attacks.

Al-Karbalai said a bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into sites of federal police forces in Bab Sinjar area, killing seven soldiers and injuring four others.

Iraq has been roiled by violence since Daesh seized vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014.

Iraqi forces, backed by air cover from a U.S.-led coalition, are currently engaged in a widespread offensive to dislodge Daesh from Mosul, the terrorist group’s last stronghold in Iraq.