7 suicide bombings targeted forces opposed to the Islamic State on Thursday as ISIS mobilized its Mosul jihadist volunteers following the loss of six villages to the Iraqi Army yesterday.

According to Amaq Agency, three consecutive suicide attacks struck the Iraqi Army and Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) at Bashitah and Maranah, east of Mosul.

Meanwhile, an ISIS driver detonated his vehicle’s explosives near a gathering of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters between the villages of Kafrok and Batnaya, northwest of Mosul.

A fifth Islamic State suicide attack also struck joint Peshmerga and PMU forces at Bazkartan village, east of Mosul.

Finally, two ISIS suicide trucks bypassed the Kurdish frontline northeast of Mosul and detonated their explosives at the crossroad between Janji and Khorsabad.

Amaq Agency did not specify the casualties; however, Islamic State outlets put the Iraqi and Kurdish death toll in the hundreds already. Furthermore, a U.S. soldier was also killed today due to an ISIS booby trap.

Despite waves of ISIS suicide bombers, the Iraqi Army and PMU secured the largely Assyrian town of Bartella on Thursday morning, advancing to within the 20 kilometer perimeter of Mosul city.

https://twitter.com/pmu_english/status/789020867543994368

Later, on Thursday afternoon, the Iraqi Army and PMU also captured al-Khabatah village and the Mishraq Sulfur Factories from ISIS.

Meanwhile, pictures emerged of two Peshmerga soldiers being hanged from a bridge in downtown Mosul following their capture by ISIS:



Nevertheless, by day four of the campaign to liberate Mosul, Iraqi forces have captured a total of 26 villages from ISIS while the Peshmerga has seized a handful of villages.

The latest estimations suggest 5,000 ISIS fighters to be held up in Mosul while the Iraqi Armed Forces number at least 30,000 soldiers for the Mosul campaign.