Iraqi forces enter west Mosul neighbourhood pushing IS out

BY Libyan Express Feb 24, 2017 - 16:36

BBC – Iraqi forces have entered a neighbourhood in West Mosul for the first time since launching an operation to retake it from so-called Islamic State (IS) five days ago.

It comes a day after troops retook the city’s airport from IS.
The army’s assault takes them from desert and farmland into a densely packed city, where fighting is expected to be particularly hard.

IS are dug into the west after being driven out of eastern Mosul last month.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s prime minister announced that the country’s air force had carried out its first strikes against IS in neighbouring Syria.

Haider al-Abadi said IS was attacked in two places from which it had carried out recent bombings in Baghdad.

The jihadist group is already being attacked in Syria by a multi-national air campaign as well as from anti-IS forces on the ground.

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