Iraqi Forces Liberate Mosul Airport from Daesh

Iraqi ground troops, backed by the army’s air force, have taken control of the Mosul airport amid a new offensive to liberate the Daesh-held western half of the city, which serves as the last urban stronghold of the terror group in the Arab state, according to Press TV.

Iraqi media reported the full liberation of the Mosul airport on Thursday hours after army troops and allied fighters launched an operation to retake the facility, which lies on the west bank of Tigris River running through the city.

Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat announced the operation in a statement on Thursday, saying that members of the Iraqi federal police and rapid response forces were engaged in the multi-pronged offensive to liberate the airport, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

 He said government troops were receiving support from Iraqi helicopter gunships and artillery units, stressing that the bulk of Daesh fortifications has been destroyed so far.

Major General Najim al-Jabouri, the head of the Operations Command in Nineveh Province, of which Mosul is the capital, also pointed out that Iraqi forces were advancing to establish control over Ghazlani airbase.

“Our forces will prevail and liberate the Mosul airport as soon as possible,” Jabouri said. “Just like Qayyarah Airfield, we will take advantage of the Mosul airport to attack Daesh.”

Since earlier this week, Iraqi forces, backed by fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, have been closing in on the Daesh-led western half of Mosul after dealing severe blows to the terror group on the eastern front.

The developments came a day after Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) stated that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets had carried out a string of airstrikes on the outskirts of Tal Afar city, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said on Wednesday that the Iraqi military aircraft destroyed a car bomb workshop used by the terror group in Khuwainiyah village, and killed 20 extremists in the adjacent village of al-Alow.

Yarallah added that a Daesh car bomb workshop was also destroyed in Alow. Tens of Daesh Takfiris were killed and another workshop for manufacturing improvised explosive devices was destroyed as Iraqi warplanes bombarded al-Tawim village.

H.M