Iraqi federal police members patrol the street in western Mosul, Iraq, on March 29, 2017.(Xinhua Photo)
MOSUL, Iraq, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Saturday freed a new neighborhood after heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.
The elite forces, known as Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), dislodged the extremist IS militants from the neighborhood of al-Seha in northwest of Mosul's old city center and raised the Iraqi flags on some of its buildings after fierce clashes, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, from the Joint Operations Command (JOC), said in a statement.
The recapture of al-Seha neighborhood would enable the troops to initiate another push in the adjacent neighborhoods of Zanjili, Warshan and Rifa'i in the northern part of Mosul's western side.
The latest push by the troops is part of slow push toward the western and northwestern edges of Mosul's densely populated old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule.
Meanwhile, the troops' advance has hardly moved for more than a month at the edges of the old city center as the federal police and interior ministry special forces, known as Rapid Response, have been fighting heavy back and forth clashes against IS militants in the narrow streets in the old neighborhoods around the historical al-Nuri Mosque in the middle of Mosul's city center.
The troops progress in the old city center is much slower than the early phases of the offensive by the stubborn resistance of IS militants, in addition to the orders to the troops that restricted the use of heavy bombings and increased sniper fire against the militants holed up in densely populated area to reduce civilians casualties.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced the start of an offensive on February 19 to drive extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of the Tigris River which bisects the city.
Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of Mosul's eastern side, or the left bank of Tigris, after over 100 days of fighting IS militants.
However, the western part of Mosul, with its narrow streets and heavily populated neighborhoods, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces.
Mosul, 400 km north of Iraqi capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their posts and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
