Iraq: Fierce clashes with Islamic State near Mosul says Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary unit
Jihadists from the Islamic State group and fighters from Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition were locked in fierce clashes near Mosul on Tuesday, with nearly 30 reported dead, the coalition said.
Mosul, Iraq’s second city, was retaken from IS in July after a massive months-long offensive.
“Waad Allah forces are repelling an IS attack southwest of Mosul in the Hatra desert”, some 100 km southwest of Mosul, said a spokesman for the Hashed unit.
The Hashed is an umbrella group of paramilitary auxiliaries formed in 2014 to support Iraqi regular forces after IS swept across swathes of northern Iraq.