A picture taken on November 4, 2016, shows rockets being fired from the Qayyarah military base, south of Mosul, during an operation by Iraqi forces to retake the main hub city from the Islamic State (IS) group jihadists. / AFP / Ahmad MOUSA
NINEVEH, Iraq: Iraqi forces on Saturday pushed deeper into the last Islamic State stronghold south of Mosul, the Iraqi army said.
In a televised statement, Abdulamir Rashid Yarullah, head of the army's Nineveh Operations Command, said Iraqi troops seized control of several districts south of Mosul.
“Our forces have imposed a security cordon on IS militants in Hammam al-Alil district,” he said.
Hammal al-Alil is the last IS stronghold about 20 kilometers south of Mosul.
Army officer Jabar Hassan said seven IS militants had been killed during Saturday’s operation.
“IS snipers are currently holed up in the district trying to stop our advancing forces,” he said.
Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, the last IS stronghold in northern Iraq, from the terrorist group.
In mid-2014, IS captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.
Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory.
