Iraq takes another major district in western Mosul

By Amer al-Hassani

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraqi forces have captured another major neighborhood in western Mosul after clashes with Daesh militants, according to a top military commander.

“Our forces have liberated Tayaran district and raised Iraqi flag over its buildings,” Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Nineveh Operations, said in a televised statement on Monday.

The new gain comes one day after Iraqi forces captured the strategic Maamoun district in a major victory against Daesh militants in western Mosul.

Last week, the Iraqi army, backed by the U.S.-led air coalition, began a fresh operation aimed at purging remaining Daesh terrorists from Mosul’s western districts.

The offensive comes as part of a wider operation launched last October to retake the entire city, which Daesh overran along vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in mid-2014.