Members of the Iraqi forces stand on their BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles as they hold a position in the village of Jarif, some 45 kilometres south of Mosul, on November 12, 2016, after retaking it from Islamic State (IS) group jihadists. / AFP / SAFIN
NINEVEH, Iraq: At least four civilians were killed on Sunday when mortar shells struck their homes in Islamic State-held Mosul city in northern Iraq.
A medic at the Mosul Public Hospital said nine people were also injured, including two seriously, in the attack that targeted Mosul’s Qadisiya neighborhood.
The source, who spoke anonymously to Anadolu Agency due to security concerns, expected the death toll to rise as the hospital suffers a shortage of life-saving medicines.
Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, which was overran by IS in mid-2014, along with vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.
Recent months have seen the Iraqi army and its allies retake much territory from the terrorist group, especially on Mosul’s outskirts and in Iraq’s western Anbar province.
