Dubai: The Daesh terror group faced major setbacks in both Iraq and Syria as local forces fighting the group on the ground inched ever closer to their de facto capitals in both countries.
In Iraq, government forces on Thursday thrust into Mosul airport on the southern edge of the terrorist stronghold for the first time since Daesh overran the region in 2014.
Backed by jets, gunships and drones, forces blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul and entered the airport compound, apparently meeting limited resistance but strafing the area for suspected snipers. Mosul is the centre of Daesh’s operations in Iraq.
“Right now thank God we’re inside Mosul airport and in front of its terminal. Our troops are liberating it,” Hisham Abdul Kadhem, a commander in the interior ministry’s Rapid Response units, told AFP inside the airport.
Little was left standing inside the perimeter and what used to be the runway was littered with dirt and rubble.
Most buildings were completely levelled but Iraqi forces celebrated the latest landmark in the four-month-old offensive to retake Mosul.
The push on the airport was launched at dawn and Iraqi forces stormed it within hours from the southwest.
In Syria meanwhile, Syrian rebel forces and Turkish armed forces gained almost total control of the flashpoint town of Al Bab after entering the centre of the former terror stronghold, the Turkish defence minister said Thursday.
Taking control of Al Bab would allow the Ankara-backed forces to press on towards Raqqa, Daesh’s de facto capital in Syria.
“It’s been a long time since we came to Al Bab but today we can say that near complete control has been taken of Al Bab and the city centre has been entered,” Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Isik said: “When the search and combing operations are over, we will be able to say that Al Bab has been completely cleared of Daesh elements.
- with inputs from Reuters and AFP
