Mortar fire and car bombs killed more than 30 people including aid workers near Mosul Thursday as Iraqi forces battled to seize the city from the Islamic State group. A triple car bombing on a market killed at least 23 people in Gogjali, a few kilometres (miles) east of Mosul, the army said.
Gogjali was retaken by pro-government forces on November 1, two weeks into a massive operation to oust IS jihadists from their last stronghold in Iraq. Since launching the operation against IS on October 17, Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service has advanced into Mosul from the east, but progress has since slowed.
"A terrorist attack in the form of three car bombs at a market in Gogjali killed 15 civilians and eight police," a co-ordination centre for the forces battling IS said in a statement. IS said three of its suicide bombers carried out the attack. Mortar fire also killed 11 people including four aid workers as civilians gathered to receive assistance in Mosul city, the United Nations said.
"According to initial reports, four aid workers and at least seven civilians queueing for emergency assistance in eastern Mosul city have been killed by indiscriminate mortar fire," UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Iraq Lise Grand said in a statement. "Within the last 48 hours, there have been two separate incidents" that also wounded up to 40 people, she said.
"People waiting for aid are already vulnerable and need help. They should be protected, not attacked," Grande said. "The killing of civilians and aid workers violates every humanitarian principle." Iraqi forces pushing towards Mosul on the southern front have yet to enter the city, and another advance from the north has stalled. To the west, forces from pro-government paramilitary groups are close to the town of Tal Afar, between Mosul and the border with Syria. However, areas taken from the jihadists are still exposed to deadly artillery attacks, bombs and gunfire.
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