Iraqi forces take two more districts of western Mosul

By Amer al-Hassani

BAGHDAD (AA) - The Iraqi military on Friday announced the recapture of two more districts of western Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group.

“Federal police units liberated the Al-Nabi Sheet and Akidat districts,” General Abdul Amir Yarullah, who led the operation, said in a televised statement.

Odai Mohamed, an army officer, told Anadolu Agency that police forces had managed to evacuate hundreds of civilians from combat areas.

In mid-February, Iraqi forces -- backed by a U.S.-led air coalition -- began fresh operations aimed at dislodging Daesh terrorists from western Mosul.

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