Iraqi forces take control of Mosul Airport
February 23, 2017
Security forces storm ISIL-held Mosul International Airport as they continue offensive on western half of the city.
The operation to retake Iraq’s second largest city was officially launched in October and, in January, its eastern half was declared ‘fully liberated’ [Reuters]
US-backed Iraqi security forces closing in on the ISIL-held western half of Mosul have stormed the city’s airport and a nearby military base, state television said.
Counterterrorism service (CTS) troops and elite interior ministry units known as Rapid Response forces descended on the airport early on Thursday and the nearby Ghazlani military complex, CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told state TV.
“This is one of the major achievements that the Iraqi forces were hoping to get in the first phase of going towards the Western side of the city,” said Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil.
“This area is about 30 kms away from the western edge of the city, and Iraqi forces now say that they are in full control.
“They say that the two main buildings of the city have been destroyed by ISIL and they have found a number of car bombs parked on strategic locations in the entry points and along the runway of Mosul International Airport.”
The airport and military complex, which includes barracks and training grounds and sprawls across an area close to the Baghdad-Mosul highway was captured by ISIL fighters when they overran Mosul in June 2014.
The advances come days after Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to push ISIL out of Mosul’s western half.
