US-backed Iraqi forces fought their way inside two villages Monday as they crept closer to Mosul a week into an offensive to retake the Daesh-held city, but they also faced questions over a suspected airstrike on a Shiite mosque that killed 13 people.
Iraqi forces shelled militant positions before dawn near Bartella, a historically Christian town east of Mosul that they had retaken last week. With patriotic music blaring from loudspeakers on their Humvees, they then pushed into the village of Tob Zawa, about 9 km from Mosul, amid heavy clashes.
Until now, most of the fighting has been in largely uninhabited towns and villages, but the special forces found more than 70 civilians sheltering in Tob Zawa. They will encounter many more civilians as they get closer to Mosul.
Abdeljabar Antar, who had remained in Tob Zawa with his wife and four children, said the Daesh extremists had included foreign fighters “who spoke languages I don’t know — Russians, Pakistanis.” 
The Iraqi Federal Police, a military-style force, pushed into a second village in the Shoura district south of Mosul, where they fired a large anti-aircraft gun and rocket-propelled grenades. They later appeared to have secured the village and handed out water and other aid to civilians.
The US-led coalition said it had carried out six airstrikes Sunday near Mosul, destroying 19 fighting positions and 17 vehicles, as well as rocket and mortar launchers, artillery and tunnels.
Human Rights Watch echoed the call from Shiite Muslim MP Hanan Al-Fatlawi for an inquiry into last week’s airstrike in Daquq, saying only Iraqi and US-led coalition forces were known to carry out air attacks in the region. 
Human Rights Watch said Daquq’s residents believe Friday’s attack was an airstrike because of the extent of the destruction and because jets could be heard flying. 
Elsewhere in the country, Iraqi forces battled Daesh for a second day in the far western town of Rutba, hundreds of kilometers south of Mosul, after what appeared to be another Kirkuk-style assault.
Rasool said the situation in Rutba “is completely under control,” and the militants have no presence in the town.
Meanwhile, Iran said Turkey should get permission from Iraq’s government to participate in the Mosul operation.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said that “it is not acceptable at all if a country, under the pretext of combating terrorism or any other crimes, tries to violate the sovereignty” of another country.
Some 500 Turkish troops stationed at a base near Mosul are training Iraqi Sunni and Kurdish forces that are taking part in the offensive.
Turkish artillery fire killed 17 Daesh terrorists since the battle began and four Turkish F-16 fighter jets are on standby to take part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

Source: Arab News