Private broadcaster Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen aired live footage from the Mosul airport perimeter, showing a military helicopter buzzing overheard and firing at IS positions as gunfire rattled. Raid Shakir Jawdat told Iraqi state TV that his troops have control of "more than half" of the airport complex. On Sunday, after weeks of preparations, Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to take Mosul's western half, with the Iraqi regular army and federal police forces taking part in the initial push. The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group's last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet. The capture of Mosul International Airport and the adjacent Ghazlani base would be a major boost for the Iraqi forces in the fight for western Mosul.

Source: ABC News February 23, 2017 06:26 UTC