QARAQOSH (IRAQ) - Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as coalition defence chiefs gathered in Paris agreed to also take on the jihadist's Syrian bastion of Raqa. Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul. "We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla. Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front, but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts. As Iraqi forces advance, the United Nations said it has received reports of dozens of execution-type killings by IS in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.

Source: Bangkok Post October 25, 2016 17:48 UTC