Iraqi forces capture key village near Mosul airport

By Hussein al-Amir and Amir al-Saadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi forces captured a strategically important village near Mosul airport on Monday, the second day of an ongoing offensive aimed at driving Daesh terrorists from their last bastion in the city.

"Our forces have taken Albu Saif village southwest of Mosul on the western bank of the Tigris," Army Brigadier-General Abdel-Aziz al-Mosawi told Anadolu Agency.

"Federal police units secured the road leading to the airport after expelling Daesh militants from the area," he said.

According to al-Mosawi, Iraqi forces hope to eventually convert the airport into a close-support base for their ongoing anti-Daesh offensive in western Mosul.

On Sunday, the Iraqi army began a wide-ranging operation aimed at purging remaining Daesh terrorists from the city’s western districts.

The offensive comes as part of a wider operation launched last October to retake Mosul, which Daesh overran -- along with much of northern and western Iraq -- in mid-2014.