Smoke billows as Iraqi forces attack Mosul airport during an offensive to retake the western side of the city from jihadists of the Islamic State group on February 23, 2017. (AFP photo)
MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Thursday fought heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants as part of a new assault on Thursday morning to retake of Mosul international airport and a nearby military base from the hands of the extremist militants, the Iraqi military said.
The Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) special forces seized 85 percent of Ghazlani military base in the southern outskirts of the western side of Mosul after heavy battles with the extremist militants, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.
The troops are still fighting to free the rest of the sprawling base, the statement said.
The troops killed many IS militants and destroyed five booby-trapped vehicles and two vehicles carrying heavy machine guns, along with defusing some 65 roadside bombs, the statement added.
Meanwhile, the federal police and elite interior ministry units, known as Rapid Response, entered Mosul international airport near Ghazlani base and managed to free more than 50 percent of the airport and the adjacent compound of a sugar plant and its residential buildings, according to the statement.
The battles in the airport resulted in the killing of many IS militants and the destruction of five booby-trapped vehicles, the statement said.
Earlier in the day, Lt. Gen. Raid Shakir Jawdat, the commander of the federal police forces, told Xinhua that the troops freed the airport after several hours of fierce clashes with the IS militants.
The airport facilities and runway were badly damaged, as the extremist militants bombed all the buildings before they withdrew, according to Jawdat.
In the morning, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, deputy commander of JOC, announced in a statement the start of an assault to retake control of Mosul's international airport and a military base nearby from IS militant group.
The attacks on Thursday came as Iraqi security forces advance toward the fringes of the western side of Mosul to drive out IS militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced on Sunday the start of an offensive to drive extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River, which bisects the city.
Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of the eastern side of Mosul, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against IS militants.
However, the western side of Mosul, with its narrow streets and a population of between 750,000 and 800,000, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces.
Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
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