Iraqi forces raise flag over Mosul University

TIL Desk/World/Mosul-Iraqi special forces raised the Iraqi flag above buildings within the Mosul University complex as they battled Islamic State militants for control of the city, according to senior Iraqi officers and the US-led coalition.

The troops entered the university grounds in the morning hours and by afternoon they had taken control of a neighbourhood on the northeastern edge of the university compound and the technical institute within the campus, according to special forces Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil and Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi.

By evening, Iraqi forces had also taken control of the Nineveh governorate and council buildings, according to a statement from the US-led coalition. “Work still needs to be done but ISIL’s days in Mosul are quickly coming to an end,” said US army Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US-led anti-IS coalition, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group.

Al-Aridi, who was overseeing the assault today, said, “We broke through the terrorists’ defenses and we destroyed their lines and their units and their bases.” The university is located in the eastern section of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city which is divided by the Tigris River into roughly an eastern and a western half.