Iraqi forces reach vicinity of key Mosul airport
(FOX)- Iraqi forces—backed by the U.S.—were closing in on the Mosul airport Monday after pushing back ISIS fighters at a nearby hill, Reuters reported, citing the Iraqi military.
The troops were working on regaining the west side of the city and overtaking the airport would be a major blow to militants. Mosul fell to ISIS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq.
Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, a top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the Iraqi forces are an “increasingly capable, formidable and professional force.”
“Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world, and the Iraqi forces have risen to the challenge,” he said in a statement.
Ground units pushed into a belt of villages outside the country’s second-largest city Sunday and plumes of smoke rose into the sky early in the morning as U.S.-led coalition jets struck militant positions southwest of Mosul and militarized Iraqi police fired artillery.