Iraqi forces recapture village in Mosul

Iraqi forces on Thursday regained control over Imam Gharbi, a village south of Mosul, from Daesh militants who had seized it as their defence of their stronghold in the city crumbled, Iraqi police said.
The action formed part of the next phase of the US-backed government’s campaign to drive Daesh from Iraq and dismantle their self-proclaimed caliphate.
Police Colonel Kareem Aboud said government forces took full control of Imam Gharbi at dawn. They discovered the bodies of two Iraqi journalists who were killed there shortly after the militants attacked, he said.
Troops were now searching the village for remaining militants.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday urged Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi to investigate alleged human rights abuses that occurred during military operations to regain control of the city of Mosul from Daesh militants.
Merkel telephoned Abadi to congratulate him on the victory of US-backed Iraqi forces in Mosul, calling it a “big step forward in the fight against Daesh,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
The German leader also encouraged Abadi to investigate claims of human rights abuses that emerged after the military operations, Seibert said.
“Such human rights abuses must be prevented in the future,” Seibert said.