Mosul offensive: Iraqi forces recapture airport in bid to retake city

Iraqi security forces have recaptured Mosul airport, a key
 part of the government's offensive to drive the so-called Islamic State (IS) from the western half of the city.

The operation took four hours. IS continued to fire mortars 
at the airport from further inside the city after losing the ground  to the army.

The jihadists have also entered a nearby military base 
amid further clashes, a military spokesman said.

Eastern Mosul was retaken last month.

The airport's runway has been destroyed by IS, but , Iraqi federal police units, says it still has value.

It's a large piece of land, and controlling it will help 
secure southern routes to west Mosul, our correspondent says.

The assault began with overnight air strikes by the US-led
coalition before armoured columns advanced to the airport's
perimeter.

An Iraqi lieutenant was killed by one of the roadside bombs
planted in the area by IS, the ERICGOSSIP has learned.

Iraqi forces also came under fire from IS militants who
 had holed up in inside airport buildings, reports said.

Foreign troops from the US-led coalition were with the attacking troops, officials told AP, without specifying their nationality.

The airport and the al-Ghazlani base are on Mosul's 
southern outskirts on the western side of the Tigris river.


Thousands of Iraqi troops, backed by artillery and air 
power, are involved in the assault to retake Mosul.

Leaflets warning residents of an imminent offensive were earlier dropped over western Mosul, where military officials say narrow winding streets could make retaking the area particularly difficult.

Although slightly smaller than the east, western Mosul is 
more densely populated and includes districts seen as 
pro-IS. 

The UN has voiced concern about the welfare of civilians trapped in the city, amid reports that they could number up 
to 650,000.

More than 160,000 people have already fled their homes in and around the city.

The UN said in late January that almost half of all the casualties in Mosul were civilians.

All bridges linking the east and west of the city, across the Tigris river, have been destroyed by air strikes.
IS jihadists overran Mosul as they spread across much of

northern and western Iraq in 2014.