| Wall Street Journal | - |
MOSUL,
Iraq—Iraqi troops breached the Mosul University campus used by Islamic
State as a military facility, in what officials said was a significant
advance in the nearly four-month battle to reclaim the city.
begin quote from:
Iraqi forces seize Mosul University, government complex from ISIS
Iraqi troops aim to retake Mosul 01:59
Story highlights
- Hundreds of ISIS militants reportedly killed during Iraqi-led advance
- Spokesman: Suspected chemical substances and "bomb factory" found at Mosul University
(CNN)Iraqi-led
forces trying to retake Mosul from ISIS have made significant gains
after seizing the city's university, a government complex and parts of
the east bank of the Tigris River, Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi of the Iraqi counterterrorism forces said Saturday.
Hundreds
of ISIS militants were reportedly killed during Friday's advance, which
came as Iraqi counterterrorism forces also announced that troops had made it Mosul's Second Bridge on the river's east bank.
Counterterror
forces this week reached the east bank of the Tigris for the first time
since the large-scale military operation to reclaim Mosul began in
October. ISIS seized control of the city, now its last major stronghold
in Iraq, in 2014.
The latest phase
in the bid to retake Mosul has advanced more quickly than expected,
partly because thousands of Iraqi federal police joined coalition troops
that included the Iraqi army, counterterror forces, Kurdish Peshmerga
fighters and Shiite-led paramilitaries.
The
new government complex in eastern Mosul as well as several Mosul
University buildings had at one time been a headquarters and killing
ground for ISIS fighters.
Iraqi
forces discovered large amounts of suspected chemical substances and "a
bomb factory" at the university, a strategic base for militants,
according to Sabah al Numan, spokesman for Iraqi counterterrorism
forces. The materials were being tested.
Additionally,
Iraqi federal police announced Saturday that intelligence information
had led them to a factory used to produce chemical and toxic material in
explosives. They discovered the facility Friday night in al-Bir, about
45 kilometers (27 miles) south of Mosul.
CNN walks through a city destroyed by ISIS 03:04
ISIS militants have used chemical weapons such as mustard gas in the past, according Iraqi and US officials.
By
Friday, ISIS had destroyed all five bridges crossing the Tigris River
in Mosul, an attempt to slow the advance of Iraqi troops toward the
city's western side, according to Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah,
commander of Iraqi forces in Nineveh province.
The
Tigris divides the eastern and western parts of the city; Iraqi-led
forces have not crossed into or started any operations in western Mosul.
The
bridges had already been damaged in airstrikes by the US-led coalition
in recent weeks. In previous instances where ISIS took out bridges,
Iraqi forces built temporary or floating structures, slowing down troops
but not deterring their advance.
The unnamed victims of terror 01:15
Saadi
of the counterterrorism forces told CNN this week that night raids have
been effective against ISIS headquarters and stretches of eastern
Mosul.
US Air Force Col. John L.
Dorrian, spokesman for the US-led operation against ISIS, said in a
video conference Tuesday that Iraqi forces were making progress with the
assistance of coalition airstrikes.
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