Iraqi forces have retaken a cluster of northern villages from Daesh terrorists, the government said on Tuesday, pushing closer to an air base that could serve as a springboard for an offensive to retake Mosul, the biggest city held by the terror group.
Backed by airstrikes from a US-led coalition, government troops launched their thrust up the eastern side of the Tigris river from the Makhmour military base in March, but tough resistance and rough terrain have slowed their advance.
Government forces have now seized all villages in the Haj Ali area and reached the eastern bank of the Tigris, around 60 km south of Mosul, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
An army brigadier involved in the operations to retake Qayara air base on the Tigris’s western side said Iraqi forces had dislodged terrorists from seven Haj Ali villages on Monday evening after Daesh fled in boats or by swimming away.
“Our sources inside the villages told us Daesh terrorists started to flee the villages in large numbers on Monday,” the officer said.

Source: Arab News