The Iraqi army finally succeeded to push into west Mosul after initial setbacks in the offensive against Islamic State earlier this week.
On Friday, soldiers of the Counter Terrorism Service, the elite unit of the Iraqi army, reconquered the Al-Amil al-Oula and the Al-Amil al-Thaniyah neighborhoods in west Mosul while the battle for the old city of Iraq’s second largest city has yet to begin.
Iraqi commanders claim that ISIS defenses in the city are beginning to collapse with the state-controlled Iraqi television claiming that about half of western Mosul has already been taken back from Islamic State.