Iraq announces it has ‘liberated’ east Mosul

BARTALLA, IRAQ: Iraqi forces have retaken control of east Mosul from the Islamic State group, commanders said on Wednesday, three months after a huge offensive against the jihadist bastion was launched.

Elite forces have in recent days entered the last neighbourhoods on the eastern side of Mosul, on the left bank of the river Tigris that runs through the city.

Speaking at a news conference in Bartalla, a town east of Mosul, staff general Talib al-Sheghati, who heads the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), announced “the liberation... of the left bank”.

He added that while the east of the city could be considered under government control, some work still remained to flush out the last holdout jihadists.

The “important lines and important areas are finished,” he said, adding that “there is only a bit of the northern (front) remaining.”

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said “the efforts of our brave forces were successful in the shape of the completion of the main plan of clearing the left side.”

Wednesday’s announcement marks the end of a phase in the operation launched on October 17, 2016 to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second city and the last major urban stronghold IS has in the country.

The offensive, which is the country’s largest military operation in years and has tens of thousands of fighters involved, began with a focus on sparsely populated areas around the city of Mosul.