By Reuters - May 28,2017 - Last updated at May 28,2017

A member of Iraqi Rapid Response forces jumps off a vehicle during clashes with Daesh militants in western Mosul, Iraq, on Saturday (Reuters photo)

BAGHDAD — Iraq's Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary force said on Sunday it had dislodged the Daesh terror group from a number of villages west of Mosul, scoring further progress towards the border with Syria. But the Iraqi forces backed by Iran cannot as yet link up with the Syrian army and allied Iranian-backed militias in Syria as Assad's forces have not as yet reached the Iraqi border from the Syrian side, despite concerted efforts in recent weeks. At the height of the group’s power IS controlled nearly a third of Iraq, but with aid, training and weapons from Iran and then the U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces have retaken more than half of the land the extremists once held. Eight months into the Mosul campaign, Islamic State fighters have been dislodged from all of the city except an enclave by the western bank of the Tigris river.
Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, assisted by Iran, say they cleared ISIL out of several villages north of Ba'aj on the border with Syria.