Militants killed in Mosul battle

Fierce gun battles broke out in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today.

A government spokesman said “some” militants were killed.

Dozens of masked men with assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers moved through the streets in the Bab al-Toub area of the city.

Soon after, Iraqi police headed to the area and a gun battle, punctuated by explosions, broke out, witnesses said. Police blocked off roads in the neighbourhood, and shopowners closed their businesses.

The US military said the violence was part of a series of attacks in the city, including a grenade attack that hit a home, a shooting at a police station and a roadside bomb attack on an American convoy.

In response to the violence, the provincial government imposed a curfew on the city and banned anyone from shooting there without official authorisation.

The afternoon gun battle was sparked when “a group of thieves and terrorists tried … to attack a bank in the city,” said Hazem Jalawi, spokesman for the governate of Nineveh, which includes Mosul.

“The police and National Guard members confronted those armed men and killed some. Those armed men tried also to attack some government installations, but they were stopped by security forces.”