Iraqi forces retake airbase south of Mosul

By Arif Yusuf

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi government forces on Saturday captured an airbase south of Mosul, an Iraqi official has said.

“Iraqi forces managed to seize control of Qayyara airbase after Daesh militants fled from it,” Hammadi al-Sultan, the governor of the northern Nineveh province, said.

He said the airbase will be used as a launchpad for an offensive aimed to recapture Mosul from Daesh, which overran the city in early 2014.

Last month, Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, recaptured the western city of Fallujah from Daesh.

Daesh, an extremist Sunni group, captured Mosul and large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country in 2014. Government forces, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, have since managed to recapture most of the territory.