POLICE RECAPTURE NEW NEIGHBORHOOD IN MOSUL

Iraqi militarized police captured two neighborhoods on the western side of Mosul on Sunday amid fierce clashes with Islamic State militants, as thousands of people continued to flee the battle to government-controlled areas, security officials said. Iraqi forces, backed by aerial support by the U.S.led international coalition, launched a new push last week to drive IS militants from Mosul’s west, capturing so far the city’s international airport and an adjacent military base. Iraqi authorities declared Mosul’s eastern half “fully liberated” from the Sunni militants in January, three months after launching the operation to take back Iraq’s second-largest city.