Iraqi forces advance in Mosul, strike IS in Syria

MOSUL AIRPORT, Iraq — As Iraqi ground troops pushed into western Mosul on Friday, the country’s air force struck Islamic State group targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by the militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the Iraqi airstrikes in Syria in a statement, saying the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah were targeted in response to recent bombings in Baghdad linked to Islamic State group operations there.

Iraqi forces closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition pushed into the first neighborhood of western Mosul and took full control of the city’s international airport and a sprawling military base on the southwestern edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

The territorial gains were the most significant yet in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout IS militants from the western half of Iraq’s second-largest city.

Iraqi forces pushed into the Mamun neighborhood and engaged in intense clashes with IS militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Federal police Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi said his forces pushed through concrete roadblocks and earthen berms set up by the Islamic State group, and succeeded in capturing around 30 percent of the Aviation District, the first district entering Mosul’s western perimeter from the south.

“There were fierce clashes. We faced car bombs, suicide attackers and mortar shelling,” al-Maturi said. “The battle ahead will be difficult and complicated because of the civilians around. It’ll be street fights.”

Al-Maturi said six Iraqi troops were wounded, including two officers. However, an AP team near the front line saw at least four wounded special forces’ members and the bodies of three soldiers, suggesting more intense fighting than the previous day. A Canadian medic volunteering at a front-line clinic said he had treated at least 10 wounded federal policemen. Iraq’s military does not release official casualty figures.