Iraqi forces have recaptured nearly 90 percent of west Mosul from the “Islamic State” (IS) group after retaking the city’s eastern side earlier this year, a military spokesman said on Tuesday. IS still controls “10.5 percent of… the right bank,” Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, told a news conference in Baghdad, referring to west Mosul. Iraqi forces launched the massive operation to retake Mosul from IS nearly seven months ago, fighting their way to the jihadist-held city, retaking its eastern side and then attacking the west. Thursday saw what the Norwegian Refugee Council said was the biggest single-day displacement since the start of the operation, with around 20,000 people fleeing west Mosul. In eastern Mosul, life returned to a semblance of normality fairly quickly after Iraqi forces drove the jihadists back neighbourhood by neighbourhood until the area was fully recaptured earlier this year.

Source: Egypt Independent May 16, 2017 12:00 UTC