IRAQ STRIKES ISIL INSIDE SYRIA AS FORCES ENTER WESTERN MOSUL

MOSUL AIRPORT, IRAQ Iraq’s air force struck ISIL targets inside Syria for the first time on Friday as Iraqi troops on the ground pushed into western Mosul, the last major urban stronghold held by the Sunni militant group in Iraq.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi announced the airstrikes in a statement, saying the air force hit the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah, strikes that came in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by ISIL and linked to the militants’ operations in Syria.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces pushed into the first neighbourhood of western Mosul and took full control of Mosul’s international airport and a sprawling military base, according to Iraqi officials.

“We faced car bombs, suicide attackers and mortar shelling,” said federal police Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi.