The Iraqi army has announced the "liberation" of east Mosul, following the collapse of Islamic State defences on the left bank of the Tigris River.

Isolated Islamic State fighters reportedly holding out in a few north-eastern districts would be “cleaned up,” said Brigadier General Sami Al Aradi of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces. “After that we will move on to west Mosul.”

The announcement comes three months after Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) began the battle to retake the city, which has been under the control of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) for more than two-and-a-half years. The speed of the ISF advance increased markedly following a renewed push since Dec 29.</s>BAGHDAD – U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops announced on Wednesday they were in “full control” of eastern Mosul, after routing Islamic State militants from that part of the northern city almost exactly three months since the major operation started.

The achievement was a “big victory,” said Iraqi Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who commands the counter-terrorism forces, describing the success of the Iraqi forces as “unprecedented.”

Shaghatai, who spoke to reporters in the town of Bartella, just east of Mosul, said plans were now being drawn up to retake the western part of the city. He did not elaborate on when that part of the operation would begin.

Wednesday’s advance came after Iraqi troops over the past days intensified their push into the last IS-held neighbourhoods in Mosul’s eastern sector, closing in on the Tigris River, which roughly divides the city. Stiff resistance by the militants, thousands of civilians being trapped in their houses by the fighting and bad weather had in the past slowed the advances of the troops.

READ MORE: Islamic State militants destroy ruins at ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud

However, skirmishes and clashes continued in some pockets along the Tigris in eastern Mosul, according to Iraqi special forces Maj. Ali Hussein who said his unit was still pushing into the Ghabat area along the river bank. Small arms fire could be heard and at least one civilian was wounded by mortar fire.

Also, some commanders on the ground disputed Shaghati’s claim of “full control” of eastern Mosul, with Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Raheed Yar Allah saying the eastern side “has not been fully liberated … and the advance is still continuing.”

READ MORE: Mosul University fully liberated by Iraqi troops, says military

Yar Allah, who commands army operations in Ninevah, where Mosul is the provincial capital, said the special forces “have done their duty” in eastern Mosul.

The prospect of retaking western Mosul looms heavy on Iraqi forces, despite all the support they have by the U.S.-led coalition, and Sunni and Shiite volunteer militias. The western half of the city is home to some of Mosul’s oldest neighbourhoods, with narrow streets packed with buildings that will further complicate the urban fight.

So far in the Mosul offensive, Iraq’s counterterrorism forces, which are by far the military’s most battle seasoned unit, have done most of the fighting, advancing from east of the city.

Regular Iraqi army troops are pushing from the city’s southeast and northern edges, and the federal security forces from farther to the west.

Mosul – Iraq’s second-largest city and the Islamic State group’s last urban stronghold in the country – fell to IS in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captures large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

The operation has also left more than 148,000 people homeless, according to the United Nations. Nearly 12,500 people have been forced to flee their homes just over the past week, the U.N. said.

More than 1 million people were estimated to still be living in Mosul in October, when Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the city.</s>The Iraqi army says it has recaptured all of eastern Mosul from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

Counter-terror chief Talib Shaghati told reporters the army had taken control of the eastern bank of the Tigris river, which divides the city.

Government forces have made swift advances through eastern Mosul since launching their latest offensive there last month.

Some IS fighters are reportedly still holed up in north-eastern districts.

Mosul is Iraq's second-largest city and the last urban stronghold IS has in the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Bartalla, a town east of Mosul, Mr Shaghati announced the "liberation" of the city's east.

The operation to recapture Mosul was launched in October, more than two years after the jihadists overran the city before seizing control of much of northern and western Iraq.

It is Iraq's largest military operation in years and has involved Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen and Shia militiamen, assisted by US-led coalition warplanes and military advisers.

The operation got off to a slow start in the face of tough IS resistance but this most recent offensive has seen troops move quickly through parts of eastern Mosul.

Last Friday the army launched an operation to capture the Mosul University complex, used by IS militants as a base and, Iraqi officials said, a chemical weapons production site.

Western Mosul, which includes the narrow streets of the old city, remains under IS control.

More than 100,000 people have fled their homes in and around Mosul and UN officials have warned that the figure is likely to rise as pro-government forces press further into the city.</s>BAGHDAD — Iraq’s military says government troops are now in “full control” of eastern Mosul after routing Islamic State militants from that part of the northern Iraqi city.

Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who commands the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, says the success of the Iraqi forces is “unprecedented.”

The advance — more than three months since the operation to free Mosul started in October — comes following Iraqi troops’ push over the past days in the last IS-held neighborhoods in Mosul’s east, closing in on the Tigris River that roughly divides the city.

Mosul — Iraq’s second-largest city and the Islamic State group’s last urban stronghold in the country — fell to IS in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captures large swaths of northern and western Iraq.</s>Elite Iraqi forces have driven Islamic State (IS) fighters from all districts of eastern Mosul they were tasked with recapturing, their commanding officer said on Wednesday, bringing almost all of the city’s eastern half under government control.

Lieutenant-General Talib Shaghati said the Counter Terrorism Services (CTS), who have spearheaded the three-month-old offensive against the IS in the city, had taken control of the eastern bank of the Tigris river.

Regular army troops were still fighting the ultra-hardline militants in northeast Mosul, however, according to a military statement. “Today we celebrate ... the liberation of the eastern bank in Mosul,” Mr. Shaghati told reporters. — Reuters</s>WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2017 — Iraqi security forces this week have continued steady progress against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, including the liberation of Mosul University, a sprawling complex on the northeast side of Iraq’s second-largest city where the enemy was deeply entrenched, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman said today.

Air Force Col. John Dorrian briefed the Pentagon reporters from Baghdad during a live teleconference, noting that the Iraqi forces have taken control of the east bank of the Tigris River in Mosul and of three of the southernmost of five bridges over the river there.

“The liberation of the university denies ISIL a significant base for operations and research, it's culturally significant to the citizens of Mosul, and it's also important as a landmark educational institution,” Dorrian said.

As Iraqi forces search university buildings, the colonel said, they're finding laboratories and workshops that ISIL is thought to have used to manufacture machine-grade weapons and facilities indicating that ISIL used the university as an important command-and-control node.

“The enemy fought hard to retain this key terrain, and they were vulnerable to the [Iraqi forces’] continued use of synchronized advances on several axes,” Dorrian added.

ISIL’s waning resources on the east side of Mosul leave the terrorist army vulnerable to such coordinated attacks, he said, adding that Iraqi force are finding the kinds of damage, booby traps and weapon storage the coalition has seen in other places the enemy once controlled.

“There's evidence the enemy also trained their fighters at the university and we've seen reports that [ISIL] has torched several facilities -- a continuation of the despicable tactics we've seen from these terrorists throughout the campaign,” Dorrian said.

In recent days, the pace of ISIL’s use of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices has waned, the colonel added, “and we've seen them use VBEIDs with less up-armoring, which makes them a bit more difficult to identify, but a little bit easier to stop.”

Some of these effects, he added, result from coalition airstrikes that have cut supply routes from the west of Mosul.

“We're prepared to continue striking VBEIDs anywhere they can be found,” he said. “To date in the Mosul campaign, the coalition has destroyed 145 of these, which are the enemy's weapon of choice.

“Even as we support the [Iraqi] advance with our artillery strikes, advisers and intelligence, and surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities,” he continued, “we continue to train Iraqi forces to hold the terrain they're liberating and to sustain a strong force that can maintain security as the enemy resorts to terrorist-style attacks.”

More than 4,400 Iraqi security forces now are in training, including nearly 2,500 police, Dorrian said, adding that the police will be instrumental in holding territory that is won back from ISIL.

In Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian-Arab Coalition have continued progress in isolating Raqqa, the city that ISIL claims as its capital, Dorrian said. Since the operation began Nov. 5, coalition partner forces have liberated about 1,225 square miles of terrain and moved to within about 3 miles of the Tabqa Dam to Raqqa’s west, where they're facing the stiffest resistance thus far, he added.

Syrian fighters cleared the area east of the Euphrates River northwest of Raqqa, displaying tactical skill by switching back and forth between the northern and western advances, Dorrian explained.

Elsewhere in Syria, the coalition continues daily coordination and conversations with Turkey, the colonel said. As a result, he told reporters, the coalition has recently flown several ISR missions to support Turkey and partner forces operating around Bab, which is about 25 miles northeast of the beleaguered city of Aleppo.

The coalition also has begun conducting strikes against those targets near Bab, and these strikes eliminated ISIL capabilities around the forward line of enemy troops near the city, Dorrian said.

“The coalition will continue to work with our Turkish partners to maximize these and other counter-ISIL operations on as many fronts as possible,” he said, “to ensure the military defeat of ISIL, and to provide stability to the region and security to our homelands.”

U.S. and Turkish military officers will continue to work in combined headquarters to deconflict, coordinate and develop targets “to maximize effects against [ISIL] and avoid negative effects on this complex and crowded battlefield,” Dorrian added.</s>MOSUL: Iraqi forces have retaken control of east Mosul from Daesh, commanders said on Wednesday, three months after a huge offensive against the militant 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 Tigris River 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".

Sheghati added however that while the east of the city could be considered under government control, some work remained to be done to flush out the last holdout militants.

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."

Operations were ongoing to clear some parts of east Mosul, including some forested areas along the Tigris, Abadi said in a statement.

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

The offensive, Iraq's largest military operation in years with tens of thousands of fighters involved, began with a focus on sparsely populated areas around Mosul.

CTS entered the city proper in November and encountered tougher than expected resistance from Daesh, whose fighters launched a huge number of suicide car bombs against advancing Iraqi forces.

The going was tough for weeks but a fresh push coordinated with other federal forces and backed by the US-led coalition was launched in December and yielded quick and decisive gains.

The west bank of Mosul is a bit smaller but is home to the narrow streets of the Old City -- impassable to most military vehicles -- and to some of the city's traditionally most dyed-in-the-wool militants neighbourhoods.

Brigadier General Yahya Rasool also stressed that despite Sheghati's announcement, there would be more fighting in east Mosul in the coming days.

"Sheghati is the head of CTS and he was talking about areas under CTS control. There are some neighbourhoods that are still being liberated and that could take a few days," he told AFP.

Mohammed Hayal, a resident of Al-Arabi neighbourhood in northeastern Mosul, said his part of the city was not yet free of Daesh fighters.

"Daesh members are still in my neighbourhood and firing mortar rounds on liberated areas," he told AFP by phone.

All the bridges across the Tigris in Mosul have been either blown up by Daesh or destroyed by coalition air strikes, which has made it very difficult for Daesh to resupply its fighters in the city's east.

It will also make it difficult for elite Iraqi forces to attack the west bank without redeploying to other fronts west of the river that have been largely static for weeks.

Interior ministry and federal police forces have held positions just south of Mosul airport, which lies on the southern edge of the city and west of the Tigris, since November.

Punching into densely populated areas however and confronting intense resistance from IS in urban environments is a type of operation which is left largely to CTS.

The fighting inside Mosul has been complicated by the continued presence of much of its population, which did not or could not flee when Iraqi forces started advancing.

According to the United Nations, around 150,000 people are currently displaced as a result of the three-month-old offensive.

Mosul lies around 350 kilometres (220 miles) northwest of Baghdad in the country's north and had an estimated population of close to two million when Daesh overran it in early June 2014.

The full recapture of Mosul by government forces would effectively end Daesh's days as a land-holding force in Iraq and deal a death blow to its claim of running a state.

Observers have said they expect a short lull in operations after east Mosul is brought fully under control.

"Mosul is already effectively surrounded, and Daesh has no choice but to fight on or surrender in the city and its surroundings," said Omar Lamrani, Middle East analyst with US intelligence firm Stratfor.

"Nevertheless, that does not mean that a deadly insurgency will not continue after Mosul is retaken," he said.</s>BAGHDAD -- U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops announced Wednesday that they were in "full control" of eastern Mosul after routing Islamic State militants from that part of the northern city, three months after the major operation started.

The achievement was a "big victory," said Iraqi army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who commands the counterterrorism forces, describing the success of the Iraqi forces as "unprecedented."

Shaghati, who spoke to reporters in the town of Bartella, just east of Mosul, said plans were now being drawn up to retake the western part of the city from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. He did not elaborate on when that part of the operation would begin.

Wednesday's advance came after Iraqi troops recently intensified their push into the last Islamic State-held neighborhoods in Mosul's eastern sector, closing in on the Tigris River, which roughly divides the city. Stiff resistance by the militants, thousands of civilians being trapped in their houses by the fighting and bad weather had in the past slowed the advances of the troops.

However, skirmishes and clashes continued in some pockets along the Tigris in eastern Mosul, said Iraqi special forces Maj. Ali Hussein, who added that his unit still was pushing into the Ghabat area along the riverbank. Small-arms fire could be heard and at least one civilian was wounded by mortar fire.

Also, some commanders on the ground disputed Shaghati's claim of "full control" of eastern Mosul, with Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Raheed Yar Allah saying the eastern side "has not been fully liberated ... and the advance is still continuing."

Yar Allah, who commands army operations in Nineveh, where Mosul is the provincial capital, said the special forces "have done their duty" in eastern Mosul.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement, posted on his website, saying "work is underway to liberate" Ghabat and the area housing Saddam Hussein's former presidential palaces in eastern Mosul. He also vowed to liberate the western side of the city.

But the prospect of retaking western Mosul looms heavy on Iraqi forces, despite the support they have from the U.S.-led coalition, as well as Sunni and Shiite volunteer militias. The western half of the city is home to some of Mosul's oldest neighborhoods, with narrow streets packed with buildings that will complicate the urban fight.

So far in the Mosul offensive, Iraq's counterterrorism forces, which are by far the military's most battle-seasoned unit, have done most of the fighting, advancing from east of the city.

Regular Iraqi army troops are pushing from the city's southeast and northern edges, and the federal security forces from farther to the west.

Mosul -- Iraq's second-largest city and the Islamic State group's last urban stronghold in the country -- fell to the Islamic State in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captured large areas of northern and western Iraq.

The operation has also left more than 148,000 people homeless, according to the United Nations. Nearly 12,500 people have been forced to flee their homes just over the past week, the U.N. said.

More than 1 million people were estimated to still be living in Mosul in October, when Iraqi forces opened the operation to retake the city.

Information for this article was contributed by Susannah George of The Associated Press.</s>Alwaght- Iraqi forces have completely expelled ISIS terrorists from eastern Mosul, Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) chief Talib Shaghati said on Wednesday.

Lieutenant-General Talib Shaghati said the (CTS), who have spearheaded the three-month-old offensive against ISIS in the northern Iraqi city, had taken control of the eastern bank of the Tigris river that roughly divides the second largest Iraqi city.

Regular army troops were still fighting the terrorist group militants in northeast Mosul, however, according to a military statement.

"Today we celebrate ... the liberation of the eastern bank in Mosul," Shaghati told reporters in the city.

The Iraqi commander said that liberating the western half of the city, which terrorists still fully control, would be an easier task.</s>Government troops are now in "full control" of eastern Mosul, according to Iraq's military, after routing Islamic State militants from that part of the city.

The commander of the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, Lt Gen Talib Shaghati, said the success of the Iraqi forces is "unprecedented".

The advance - more than three months since the operation to free Mosul started in October - comes following a push by Iraqi troops over the past days in the last IS-held neighbourhoods in east Mosul, closing in on the Tigris River that roughly divides the city.

Mosul - Iraq's second-largest city and the Islamic State group's last urban stronghold in the country - fell to IS in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captured large areas of northern and western Iraq.

Hailing the "big victory", Lt Gen Talib Shaghati said plans were now being drawn up to retake the western part of the city.

Iraqi security forces patrol in the eastern side of Mosul today. Pic: AP

Stiff resistance by the militants, thousands of civilians being trapped in their houses by the fighting and bad weather had in the past slowed the advance of troops.

However, skirmishes and clashes continued in some pockets along the Tigris in eastern Mosul, according to an Iraqi special forces spokesman, who said his unit was still pushing into the Ghabat area along the river bank.

Small arms fire could be heard and at least one civilian was wounded by mortar fire.

Also, some commanders on the ground disputed Lt Gen Shaghati's claim of "full control" of eastern Mosul, with Lt Gen Abdul-Amir Raheed Yar Allah saying the eastern side "has not been fully liberated... and the advance is still continuing".

Lt Gen Yar Allah, who commands army operations in Ninevah, where Mosul is the provincial capital, said the special forces "have done their duty" in eastern Mosul.

The prospect of retaking western Mosul looms heavy on Iraqi forces, despite all the support they have from the US-led coalition, and Sunni and Shiite volunteer militias.

The western half of the city is home to some of Mosul's oldest neighbourhoods, with narrow streets packed with buildings that will further complicate the urban fight.

An Iraqi soldier waves the national flag as security forces patrol on the eastern side of Mosul today. Pic: AP

So far in the Mosul offensive, Iraq's counter-terrorism forces, which are by far the military's most battle seasoned unit, have done most of the fighting, advancing from east of the city.

Regular Iraqi army troops are pushing from the city's south-east and northern edges, and the federal security forces from further to the west.

The operation has also left more than 148,000 people homeless, according to the United Nations. Nearly 12,500 people have been forced to flee their homes just over the past week, the UN said.

More than one million people were estimated to still be living in Mosul in October, when Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the city.
The Iraqi Army announces the liberation of the eastern part of Mosul following the collapse of ISIL defenses.