An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul on October 28, 2016. AFP / BULENT KILIC
NINEVEH, Iraq: Three more villages west of Mosul have been recaptured from the Islamic State terrorist group, military sources said Saturday.
Faisal Yasin, a captain in the Iraqi army’s Nineveh Operations Command, told Anadolu Agency that four bomb-laden vehicles of IS had also been destroyed and that operations were ongoing.
An Iraqi army major, Mezahim Ahmed said US-led coalition airstrikes against the town of Tal Kayf, 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Mosul, mistakenly killed four Iraqi soldiers and injured nine other in Mosul.
The slain soldiers from Iraqi Army's 16th Division had been in Tal Kayf for almost one week, Ahmed added.
On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a much-anticipated operation to retake Mosul, which IS overran in mid-2014.
While most villages on the city’s outskirts have since fallen, IS remains in control of Mosul, which it overran in mid-2014.
