Top ISIS commander killed in Mosul

A senior ISIS commander has been killed in the battle for Mosul, Iraqi military intelligence sources told CNN.

Mahmoud Shukri al Nuaimi, a senior figure in the militant setup who also is known as “Sheikh Faris,” was killed in a coalition airstrike in western Mosul on Tuesday, the sources said.

ISIS confirmed his death in a video montage, in which he is referred to as “the martyr of the battle.”

The Iraqi sources also say that al Nuaimi was formerly a high-ranking intelligence officer in Saddam Hussein’s intelligence services, which CNN cannot independently confirm.

Bodies left on streets

Jihadists have been killing suspected Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) collaborators since Monday, witnesses say.

All the victims have been male, the witnesses say, and have been shot in the head.

The suspected spies’ bodies have been left at intersections throughout the areas of the city that the group still controls.

As the battle for the beleaguered northern Iraqi city wears on, the sources say that two Mosul residents were killed when an ISIS mortar attack intended for Iraqi troops hit civilian homes in the Kirkukli neighborhood.

More than 1,200 militants have been killed by the ISF since the start of the offensive on October 17, according to a statement from the Iraqi Federal Police.

However, as many as 10,000 families have been freed from ISIS rule and 56 oil wells have also been “liberated” from ISIS control, the statement adds.

Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) troops have also been advancing toward the town of Tal Afar, about 70 km (43 miles) west of Mosul. The advance is proceeding “slowly but firmly,” the group, which comprises a loose coalition of militia, said.