Iraq: Iraqi army retakes eastern Mosul from ISIS, defense ministry reports
Iraqi forces have captured all of eastern Mosul, dislodging Islamic State militants from the last district they held east of the Tigris river, 100 days after the start of the U.S.-backed campaign, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.
Mosul is Islamic State’s last major city stronghold in Iraq.
“The armed forces succeeded in liberating the left bank of the city of Mosul completely, after inflicting heavy losses in lives and equipment to the enemy,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Mopping up operations were underway to clear a remaining pocket inside Rashidiya, a northeastern suburb of Mosul, said military spokesman Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool in a statement.
Iraqi forces launched a campaign on October 17 to retake Mosul from the hardline Sunni group, which captured the city in 2014, declaring from its Grand Mosque a “caliphate” that also spanned parts of Syria, ruled by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.