Iraqi forces thwart Daesh attack near Mosul

Iraqi helicopter gunships on Thursday foiled an attempted suicide attack by Daesh terrorists near the city of Mosul, according to an Iraqi military source.

"A suicide bomber driving a bomb-laden vehicle tried to target a group of rapid-response personnel in the desert area near the village of Haraj some 80 kilometers southwest of Mosul," Air Force Brigadier-General Abdul Qader al-Shawwaf told Anadolu Agency.

"U.S. reconnaissance aircraft spotted the vehicle and gave its coordinates to the Iraqi Air Force, which immediately dispatched helicopter gunships to destroy it," he added.

According to al-Shawwaf, gunships fired three missiles at the vehicle, destroying it instantly and killing everyone aboard.

"Daesh still maintains an armed presence in parts of the desert area of Nineveh province [of which Mosul serves as regional capital]," he said.

He went on to point out that the Iraqi military was still "coordinating closely" with a U.S.-led coalition with the aim of "entirely purging the terrorist presence from all Iraqi territories".

In August, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that Iraq's northern Nineveh province had been "entirely liberated" from Daesh.

The terrorist group has recently suffered a string of crushing defeats in both Iraq and Syria after overrunning vast territories in both countries in mid-2014.