Iraqi air force hits IS targets in Syria

air force has struck Islamic State targets inside Syria for the first time as Iraqi troops on the ground pushed into western Mosul.

Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the air strikes, saying the air force hit the towns of Boukamal and Husseibah across the border. He said they came in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by IS 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 on the south-western edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

The city is the last major urban stronghold held by the Sunni militant group in Iraq.

The territorial gains mark the first key moves in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

The push into Mamun neighbourhood was followed by intense clashes with IS militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground.

An Associated Press 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.

Earlier yesterday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken the military base adjacent to the airport.