Home » Africa & World Politics, Headlines » Mosul offensive: Iraqi forces recapture airport in bid to retake city

Mosul offensive: Iraqi forces recapture airport in bid to retake city

Iraqi security forces have recaptured Mosul airport, a key part of the government’s offensive to drive the so-called Islamic State (IS) from the western half of the city.

The operation took four hours. IS continued to fire mortars at the airport from further inside the city after losing the ground to the army.

The jihadists have also entered a nearby military base amid further clashes, a military spokesman said.

Eastern Mosul was retaken last month.

Thursday’s advance brings the army very close to Mosul’s south-western outskirts, where the militants are expected to launch attacks from densely populated neighbourhoods.

Aram Shakaram, the country deputy director for Save the Children in Iraq, told the BBC he believed relatively few people had been able to escape the city since yesterday.

Armoured columns

The assault began with overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition before armoured columns advanced to the airport’s perimeter.

map

An Iraqi lieutenant was killed by one of the roadside bombs planted in the area by IS, the BBC has learned.

Iraqi forces also came under fire from IS militants.

Foreign troops from the US-led coalition were with the attacking troops, officials told the Associated Press news agency, without specifying their nationality.

The airport’s runway has been destroyed by IS but BBC Middle East correspondent Quentin Sommerville, who is embedded with Iraqi federal police units, says it still has value.

It is a large piece of land and controlling it will help secure southern routes to west Mosul, our correspondent says.

The airport and the al-Ghazlani base are on Mosul’s southern outskirts on the western side of the Tigris river.

Iraqi soldiers flash victory signs and brandish an IS flag after entering Mosul airport, 23 FebruaryImage copyrightAFP
Image captionIraqi soldiers celebrated with a captured IS flag after taking the airport
damaged humvee
Image captionThis humvee was damaged in the fighting

Thousands of Iraqi troops, backed by artillery and air power, are involved in the assault to retake Mosul.

Leaflets warning residents of an imminent offensive were earlier dropped over western Mosul, where military officials say narrow winding streets could make retaking the area particularly difficult.

Although slightly smaller than the east, western Mosul is more densely populated and includes districts seen as pro-IS.

Trapped in the city

The UN has voiced concern about the welfare of civilians trapped in the city.

Save the Children in Iraq’s country deputy director said the charity believed that nearly 800,000 people were trapped in Mosul.

CTS troops head towards Ghazlani baseImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThousands of Iraqi troops are involved in the assault to retake Mosul
Iraqi army launches rocketImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionIraqi forces have also attacked the nearby al-Ghazlani military base

More than 160,000 people have fled their homes in and around the city.

The UN said in late January that almost half of all the casualties in Mosul were civilians.

All bridges linking the east and west of the city, across the Tigris river, have been destroyed by air strikes.

IS jihadists overran Mosul as they spread across much of northern and western Iraq in 2014.

-BBCwp_posts

Related Posts

Website Pin Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google StumbleUpon Premium Responsive

Short URL: https://newnigerianpolitics.com/?p=47352

Posted by on Feb 23 2017. Filed under Africa & World Politics, Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Leave a Reply

Headlines

Browse National Politics

Featuring Top 5/1412 of National Politics

Subscribe

Read more

Browse Today’s Politics

Featuring Top 5/45 of Today's Politics

Browse NNP Columnists

Featuring Top 10/1568 of NNP Columnists

Browse Africa & World Politics

Featuring Top 5/2411 of Africa & World Politics

Subscribe

Read more

ADVERTISEMENT

Categories

FEATURED VIDEOS

Advertisements

ARCHIVES

February 2025
S M T W T F S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728  

© 2025 New Nigerian Politics. All Rights Reserved. Log in - Designed by Gabfire Themes