Hawzah News Agency-“We stress today upon our beloved fighters, as we have before on many occasions, that they exercise the greatest degree of restraint in dealing with civilians stuck in the areas, where there is fighting. Protect them and prevent any harm to them by all possible means,” read a statement from Ayatollah Sistani read by his representative Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalaei during a Friday sermon in the holy shrine city of Karbala.

He also called on the “good people of Mosul to cooperate with the security forces as much as possible and to facilitate their mission to free them from the rule of Daesh terrorists.”

The remarks came as Commander of Federal Police Forces, Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat, said elite counter-terrorism forces have entered the village of al-Shak south of Mosul.

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