Iraqi forces have captured three more neighborhoods from Islamic State (IS) militants in the northern city of Mosul, a senior Iraqi commander told the Associated Press news agency.
Haidar Fadhil said on November 24 that his troops had driven out IS militants from the neighborhoods of Amn, Qahira, and Green Apartment and were expanding their foothold in the densely populated district of Zohur.
The neighborhoods are all located in the eastern sector of Mosul, east of the Tigris River, where most of the fighting has taken place since the government offensive to retake Mosul began on October 17.
The campaign to liberate Mosul is the biggest military operation in Iraq since U.S. troops left in 2011.
The offensive is being carried out by Iraqi government forces -- together with Sunni tribesmen, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and Shi'ite militia groups -- and backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes.
The IS extremist group captured Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in the summer of 2014.
