DAMASCUS, SYRIA (3:45 A.M.) – The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd Al-Sha’abi) began their military operations in the western countryside of Mosul on Saturday, targeting the vast area between the provincial capital and Syrian border.

Backed by Iraqi airstrikes, the Popular Mobilization Units managed to liberate 7 villages encompassing nearly 35km of territory in western Mosul, leaving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) without a proper exit route to SSyria.

With the Popular Mobilization Forces’ assault on Saturday, the Islamic State is now forced to find an alternative route to Syria via Mosul.

While the PMU attack Mosul’s western flank, the Iraqi Armed Forces positioned a the southern and eastern outskirts have halted their military operations in order to consolidate their gains, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense reported on Friday.