NEW YORK (AP) — Does it feel like forever since we lost the style, splendor and scandals of "Downton Abbey?"

Well, dust off your jewels and put up the kettle because the twists and turns at...</s>Iraq's air force struck ISIS targets inside Syria for the first time overnight as Iraqi troops on the ground pushed into western Mosul, the last major urban stronghold held by the Sunni militant group in Iraq.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the airstrikes in a statement, saying the air force hit the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah, strikes that came in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by ISIS 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 southwestern edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.

Iraqi federal police fired volleys of mortars into Mosul from the edge of the airport, which appeared almost completely destroyed: runways had been dug up, control towers flattened and concrete barriers overturned.

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

The push into the Mamun neighborhood was followed by intense clashes with ISIS militants, according to an Iraqi special forces officer on the ground, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Al-Maturi said six Iraqi troops were wounded, including two officers. However, 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.

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.

Earlier on Friday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken the military base adjacent to the airport.

Both the Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

The United Nations estimate that about 750,000 civilians are trapped in western Mosul. The initial numbers of displaced from western Mosul have been low, but Iraqi forces are yet to punch into the city's dense urban neighborhoods.

The battle for western Mosul is expected to be the most difficult yet because the sector is denser, with older neighbourhoods and narrower streets that will likely complicate the already difficult urban combat ahead.</s>Iraqi police officials say the country's militarized federal police forces have entered Mosul International Airport, taking over the runway amid fierce clashes with the Islamic State group.

Thursday's advance is part of a major assault that started five days ago to drive IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

Two police officers say the airport buildings are now under fire from the Iraqi police forces. They would not provide more details but said troops from the U.S.-led coalition are with the advancing forces, though they didn't specify the nationalities of the foreign forces.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

The advances come days after Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to take Mosul's western half, with the Iraqi regular army and federal police forces taking part in the initial push. Since the operation began on Sunday, Iraqi forces say they have retaken some 120 square kilometers — nearly 50 square miles — south of the city.

"The counterterrorism forces will be an additional force, which will expedite the liberation of Mosul's western side," Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, an Iraqi military spokesman, told the AP.

The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group's last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet.

The streets are older and narrower in this section of the city, stretching west from the Tigris River that divides Mosul into the eastern and western half. The dense urban environment will likely force Iraqi soldiers to leave the relative safety of their armored vehicles.

The presence of up to 750,000 civilians will also pose a challenge.

Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq.</s>BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraqi police officials say the country’s militarized federal police forces have entered Mosul International Airport, taking over the runway amid fierce clashes with the Islamic State group.

Thursday’s advance is part of a major assault that started five days ago to drive IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

Two police officers say the airport buildings are now under fire from the Iraqi police forces. They would not provide more details but said troops from the U.S.-led coalition are with the advancing forces, though they didn’t specify the nationalities of the foreign forces.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.</s>BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi federal police pushed their way into the perimeter of Mosul International Airport on Thursday, taking control of the runway amid fierce exchanges of fire with Islamic State militants hunkered down in several airport buildings, police officials said.

The advance came as part of a major assault that started five days earlier to drive the Islamic State group from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

Two police official told The Associated Press that after police forces pushed onto the airport grounds and seized the runway, they came under heavy fire from inside the buildings at the site, including the main airport building.

The officials would not provide more details but said heavy exchanges were underway. They said troops from the U.S.-led coalition were with the advancing forces, though they didn’t specify the nationalities of the foreign forces. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Private broadcaster Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen aired live footage from the Mosul airport perimeter, showing a military helicopter buzzing overheard and firing at IS positions as gunfire rattled.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi special forces joined the government offensive for the western half of Mosul, pushing up to a sprawling, IS-held military base on the city’s southern edge that’s adjacent to the airport, officials said.

The elite counterterrorism forces moved toward the Ghazlani military base where fierce clashes erupted at the edge of the base, two special forces officers said.

On Sunday, after weeks of preparations, Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to take Mosul’s western half, with the Iraqi regular army and federal police forces taking part in the initial push. Since then, the military says they have retaken some 120 square kilometers — nearly 50 square miles — south of the city.

“The counterterrorism forces will be an additional force, which will expedite the liberation of Mosul’s western side,” Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, an Iraqi military spokesman, told the AP.

The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group’s last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet.

In January, Iraqi authorities declared the eastern half of Mosul “fully liberated” from IS.

However, the streets are older and narrower in the western section of the city, stretching west from the Tigris River that divides Mosul into the eastern and western half. The dense urban environment will likely force Iraqi soldiers to leave the relative safety of their armored vehicles. The presence of up to 750,000 civilians will also pose a challenge.

Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq.</s>BAGHDAD (AP) - The Latest on the Iraqi government forces' battle to take the western half of Mosul from the Islamic State group (all times local):

Iraqi police officials say the country's militarized federal police forces have entered Mosul International Airport, taking over the runway amid fierce clashes with the Islamic State group.

Thursday's advance is part of a major assault that started five days ago to drive IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

Two police officers say the airport buildings are now under fire from the Iraqi police forces. They would not provide more details but said troops from the U.S.-led coalition are with the advancing forces, though they didn't specify the nationalities of the foreign forces.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

Iraq's special forces say they have begun an assault against the Islamic State group on a sprawling military base south of Mosul that's adjacent to the city's airport.

Two Iraqi special forces officers say their troops have reached the edge of the Ghazlani base on the city's southern rim on Thursday morning and that clashes there are underway.

A federal police officer says his forces are also pushing toward the Mosul airport. All officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

The advances come days after Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to push IS out of Mosul's western half.

The operation to retake Iraq's second largest city was officially launched in October and in January its eastern half was declared "fully liberated."

A sniper with the Iraqi federal police aims at an Islamic State position from the rooftop of a house in the town of Abu Saif, Wednesday Feb. 22, 2017. The battle for Mosul, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, has already driven the militants from the eastern half of the city, which is divided roughly in half by the Tigris River. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)</s>BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi police officials say the country’s militarized federal police forces have entered Mosul International Airport, taking over the runway amid fierce clashes with the Islamic State group.

Thursday’s advance is part of a major assault that started five days ago to drive IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

Two police officers say the airport buildings are now under fire from the Iraqi police forces. They would not provide more details but said troops from the U.S.-led coalition are with the advancing forces, though they didn’t specify the nationalities of the foreign forces.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

The advances come days after Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to push IS out of Mosul’s western half.

The operation to retake Iraq’s second largest city was officially launched in October and in January its eastern half was declared “fully liberated.”</s>BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led international coalition fought their way Thursday into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city’s airport, taking control of the runway amid fierce exchanges of fire with Islamic State group militants.

The two-pronged advance is part of a major assault that started earlier this week to drive IS from the western half of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city

Iraqi federal police units, backed by regular army forces, entered the airport Thursday morning, according to two police officials who said heavy clashes were underway hours later with IS militants hunkered down inside several airport buildings.

The officials said coalition troops were with the advancing forces, though they didn’t specify the nationalities of the foreign forces. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Private broadcaster Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen aired live footage from the Mosul airport perimeter, showing a military helicopter buzzing overheard and firing at IS positions as gunfire rattled.

By early afternoon, federal police commander Maj. Gen. Raid Shakir Jawdat told Iraqi state TV that his troops have control of “more than half” of the airport complex. Jawdat added that about 200 families were evacuated to safe areas in government-controlled areas.

Separately, Iraqi special forces entered the Ghazlani military base next to the airport on the southern edge of the city, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, told the AP.

Rasool said heavy clashes were underway inside the base. He did not provide more details.

On Sunday, after weeks of preparations, Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to take Mosul’s western half, with the Iraqi regular army and federal police forces taking part in the initial push. Since then, the military says they have retaken some 120 square kilometers — nearly 50 square miles — south of the city.

Thursday marked the first time the Iraqi special forces, which played a key role in securing the eastern half of the city, joined the fight for western Mosul.

“The counterterrorism forces will be an additional force, which will expedite the liberation of Mosul’s western side,” Rasool said.

Also on Thursday, another counterterrorism unit captured a key village southwest of Mosul from where Islamic State group snipers and shelling had been slowing the government offensive, Rasool said. IS had used Tell al-Rayan to position snipers and fire off rockets and mortar rounds to derail the advance of the Iraqi troops, he said.

Another special forces officer said IS targeted the advancing troops with a suicide car bomb and dozens of bombs dropped from a drone. The officer, who also condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media, said his troops sustained at least a dozen casualties, but many were light injuries.

Making up for a lack of fighters, IS militants are increasingly relying on modified commercial drones to guide suicide car bombers to their targets and to launch small-scale airstrikes on Iraqi forces.

Among those who fled the fighting was Hamad Khalaf, who walked out of Maamoun neighborhood south of Mosul along with his wife and four children as convoys of Iraqi vehicles passed by.

“There are many injured still inside,” said a dust-covered Khalaf of his neighborhood south of Mosul.

“We’ve been walking since the morning,” his wife Badriya said as she held her 1 1 / 2-year-old daughter. A few meters behind them a mortar fired from inside Mosul hit a nearby hill.

In January, Iraqi authorities declared the eastern half of Mosul “fully liberated” from IS. The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group’s last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet.

The streets are older and narrower in the western section of the city, stretching west from the Tigris River that divides Mosul into the eastern and western half. The dense urban environment will likely force Iraqi soldiers to leave the relative safety of their armored vehicles. The presence of up to 750,000 civilians also poses a challenge.

Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq. But the Sunni militant group has since consistently lost territory as the U.S.-led coalition proved to be critical for Iraqi government efforts to claw back territory lost to the extremists.

IS has suffered losses in Syria as well: Turkish troops and Syrian opposition forces seized the center of the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab on Thursday, breaking a weeks-long deadlock between the two sides at the periphery of the town, Turkey’s state news agency and opposition activists said. The northern Syrian town in Aleppo province is one of the militants’ last urban strongholds in Syria west of Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s de facto capital.

Also part of the Mosul battle but on its fringes, are government-sanctioned paramilitary forces, made up mainly of Shiite militiamen.

The militias this week launched their own new push to capture IS-held villages west of Mosul. The efforts by the militias, an umbrella group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, are likely coordinated with government efforts.

The capture of Mosul International Airport and the adjacent Ghazlani base would be a major boost for the Iraqi forces in the fight for western Mosul. The Shiite militias already hold a small airport outside Tal Afar, a city located west of Mosul toward the Syrian border.

Associated Press writers Susannah George south of Mosul and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.</s>Iraqi forces pushed into the first neighborhood in western Mosul on Friday and took full control of the international airport on the city's southwestern edge from the Islamic State group, according to Iraqi officials.

The gains mark the first key moves in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout IS militants from the western half of the city of Mosul, the extremists' last urban stronghold in Iraq.

The push by Iraqi forces into Mosul's western Mamun neighborhood was followed by 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.

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. Iraq's military does not release official casualty information.

Earlier on Friday, the spokesman of the Joint Military Operation Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, said Iraqi forces had also retaken a sprawling military base adjacent to the airport.

The advances come a day after special forces joined the fight. Both the sprawling Ghazlani military base and the airport will be key to the next steps in the daunting battle and will serve as a base of operations as Iraqi forces launch subsequent pushes into western Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River into two halves.

Iraqi authorities declared the city's eastern half "fully liberated" from the Sunni militants in January, three months after launching the operation to take back Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

On Thursday, Iraqi special forces joined federal police and rapid response units in the push while the Popular Mobilization Forces — an umbrella group of government-sanctioned Shiite militias — secured the main roads west of Mosul, largely cutting the city off from IS-held territory in Syria.

The United Nations estimated that about 750,000 civilians are trapped in western Mosul. The initial numbers of displaced from western Mosul have been low, but Iraqi forces are yet to punch into the city's dense urban neighborhoods.

The battle for western Mosul is expected to be the most trying yet. The western half of the city is denser with older neighborhoods and narrower streets that will likely complicate the already difficult urban combat ahead.</s>Smoke billows as Iraqi forces attack Mosul airport during an offensive to retake the western side of the city from Daesh extremists on Thursday (AFP photo)

MOSUL AIRPORT, Iraq — Iraqi forces on Thursday thrust into Mosul airport on the southern edge of the extremist stronghold for the first time since the Daesh terror group overran the region in 2014.

Backed by jets, helicopter gunships and drones, forces blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul and entered the airport compound, apparently meeting limited resistance but strafing the area for suspected snipers.

"Right now thank God we're inside Mosul airport and in front of its terminal. Our troops are liberating it," Hisham Abdul Kadhem, a commander in the interior ministry's Rapid Response units, told AFP inside the airport.

Little was left standing inside the perimeter and what used to be the runway was littered with dirt and rubble.

Most buildings were completely levelled but Iraqi forces celebrated the latest landmark in the four-month-old offensive to retake Mosul.

While Iraqi forces were not yet deployed in the northern part of the sprawling airport compound and sappers cautiously scanned the site for explosive devices, Daesh extremists appeared to offer limited resistance.

As Iraqi forces approached the airport moments earlier, attack helicopters fired rockets at an old sugar factory that stands next to the perimeter wall, sending a cloud of ash floating across the area.

As they moved past the factory, an explosive device detonated next to the convoy's lead vehicle. It sent soldiers running back away from the blast but nobody was injured.

The push on the airport was launched at dawn and Iraqi forces stormed it within hours from the southwest.

The regional command said elite forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service were simultaneously attacking the neighbouring Ghazlani military base, where some of them were stationed before Daesh seized Mosul in June 2014.

Control of the base and airport would set government forces up to enter Mosul neighbourhoods on the west bank of the Tigris, a month after declaring full control of the east bank.

All of the city's bridges across the river are damaged.

The US-led coalition has played a key role in supporting Iraqi forces with air strikes and advisers on the ground, and on Thursday US forces were seen on the front lines.

The American troops are not supposed to be doing the actual fighting but in recent weeks have got so close to the front that they have come under attack, coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said.

“They have come under fire at different times, they have returned fire at different times, in and around Mosul,” Dorrian told reporters on Wednesday.

He declined to say if there had been any US casualties in the attacks, but an unnamed official later told CNN that several personnel had been evacuated from the battlefield.

The latest push to retake Mosul, the country’s second city and the last stronghold of the fighters in Iraq, was launched on Sunday and involves thousands of security personnel.

They started closing in on the airport four days ago. It is unclear how many fighters tried to defend the airport but US officials said Monday that only around 2,000 remain in Mosul.

There are an estimated 750,000 civilians trapped on the city’s west bank, which is a bit smaller than the east side but more densely populated.

It includes the Old City and its narrow streets, which will make for a difficult terrain when Iraqi forces reach it because they will be impassable for some military vehicles.

The noose has for months now been tightening around Mosul and the living conditions for civilians are fast deteriorating.

Residents AFP has reached by phone spoke of dwindling food supplies forcing many families to survive on just one meal a day.

Medical workers say the weakest are beginning to die of the combined effect of malnutrition and the lack of medicines, which Daesh fighters have been keeping for themselves.

An army plane late Wednesday dropped thousands of letters written by residents of the retaken east bank to their fellow citizens across the river.

“Be patient and help each other... the end of injustice is near,” read one of them which was signed “People from the east side”.

“Stay in your homes and cooperate with the security forces. They are your brothers, they came to liberate you,” read another.

A smaller than expected proportion of the east side’s population fled when Iraqi forces stormed it nearly four months ago but the United Nations is bracing for a bigger exodus from the west.

It had said 250,000 people or more could flee their homes on the west bank and has scrambled to set up new displacement camps around the city.
Iraqi Police forces enter the Mosul International Airport and capture the runway from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.