Iraqi forces push into IS-held pocket in Mosul: military

MOSUL: Iraqi special forces pushed deeper into Islamic State-held districts in eastern Mosul on Tuesday, and army units battled the militants inside a military base in the north of the city, military officials said. Islamic State has been driven out of most eastern districts of its Iraqi stronghold in the three months since the United States-backed campaign began. Iraqi troops have seized large areas along the river, which bisects Mosul from north to south. Capture of the entire east bank, which military officials say is imminent, will allow the army, special forces and elite police units to begin attacks on the city’s west, still fully held by the militants. Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces pushed into the Eastern Nineveh and Souq al-Ghanam districts, which are flanked by areas held by Iraqi troops, spokesman Sabah al-Numan said. The special forces have now taken control of the Andalus and Shurta neighborhoods, where they were fighting on Monday, Numan told a Reuters reporter in Mosul. “Roughly all the eastern axes for which CTS is responsible will be completed and we will announce the liberation of the entire eastern side,” he said, but did not specify when. A separate military statement said the CTS had also seized al-Muhandiseen district, nearly three miles further northwest, a short distance from the river. Agencies