Two women suicide bombers, hiding among a group of fleeing civilians, targeted Iraqi troops in Mosul on Monday morning, killing one soldier and wounding several others, an Iraqi officer said.
It was the latest counter-attack by Daesh (ISIS) as Iraqi forces close in on the last pocket of militant-held territory in the Old City neighborhood – the scene of the last stand by Daesh militants.
After days of fierce battles, the territory held by the militants in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, is rapidly shrinking, with Daesh now controlling just over 1 square kilometer in all, or about 0.40 square miles.
Using women as suicide bombers was apparently the latest tactic by the militants, Sgt. Ali Abdullah Hussein told The Associated Press.
“They appeared from the basement [of a building] and they blew themselves up,” Hussein said as he returned from the scene, his troops carrying the body of their slain comrade wrapped in a blanket.
The attack happened in the area of the destroyed al-Nuri Mosque, which was the focus of the Iraqi forces’ push last week. Over the past three days, Hussein said at least four such attacks have targeted Iraqi forces as hundreds of Mosul’s civilians are fleeing the battles in the Old City’s congested streets.