U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops on Sunday fully liberated the sprawling complex of Mosul University, an Iraqi military spokesman said, a major step in the massive operation to retake the Islamic State group-held city of Mosul. Gen. Yahya Rasool, declared the campus was under the full control of Iraqi special forces, officially known as the Counter Terrorism Service, who raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings. Fadhil added that the troops also entered the nearby Andalus neighborhood, which he expected would be fully retaken later in the day. Sunday's progress is the latest in a string of swift territorial gains in recent weeks by the U.S.-backed Iraqi military. The Islamic State group captured Mosul in 2014 along with nearly a third of Iraqi territory and large parts of neighboring Syria.

Source: Fox News January 15, 2017 12:09 UTC