The Battle For The Iraqi City Of Mosul -- News Updates December 31, 2016

Reuters: Baghdad blasts kill 29 as Mosul fighting intensifies

Three bombs killed 29 people in Baghdad on Saturday as fighting intensified in the northern city of Mosul, where Iraqi government forces are trying to rout Islamic State militants from their last major stronghold in the country.

Blasts, including one suicide attack, tore through a busy market in the Sinak neighborhood, police said. A pro-Islamic State news agency said the target was Shi'ite Muslims, whom the militants regard as apostates.

A third blast later in the day killed four people in the eastern New Baghdad district, where a minibus packed with explosives blew up in a busy commercial street, police and medics said.

Islamic State has continued to launch attacks in the heavily fortified capital, even after losing most of the northern and western territory it seized in 2014.

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The Battle For The Iraqi City Of Mosul -- News Updates December 31, 2016

Caution marks Iraqi army advance against Islamic State north of Mosul -- Reuters
Iraqi army makes gains in Mosul as ISIS suicide blasts kill 28 in Baghdad -- RUDAW
Elite Iraq units link up for Mosul assault: officers -- AFP
North of Mosul, Iraqi army aims to cut off Tel Kaif -- RUDAW
70 ISIS fighters killed as two villages are liberated to the north of Mosul -- AMN
Iraqi Forces Free Mosul Neighborhood on Day 3 of Renewed Push -- Tasnim News Agency
In Mosul Fight, Winter Delays Slow Push to Tal Afar -- VOA
US soldiers pound ISIS in Mosul with M777 artillery shells -- RUDAW
Civilians flee eastern Mosul as Iraqi forces battle ISIL -- Euronews
No big New Year's celebrations for Iraq's displaced -- AP
Some in Mosul wary of Iraqi government's return: 'Before Daesh, there was too much corruption' -- Chicago Tribune
As bombs rock Baghdad, Abadi must translate battlefield victory into safer streets -- RUDAW