World Bulletin / News Desk

The Iraqi army on Sunday captured a major district in western Mosul amid an ongoing offensive to drive ISIL terrorist group from the northern city, according to a military commander.

“The anti-terrorism forces have liberated the Maamoun district and flew Iraqi flag over buildings in the area,” General Abdul-Amir Yarullah, commander of the Mosul operation, said in a televised statement.

“The Maamoun district is the first neighborhood that the Iraqi forces have fully controlled in western Mosul,” he said.

Iraqi forces seized control of several areas in the district on Thursday before fully capturing the neighborhood on Sunday.

Last week, the Iraqi army, backed by the U.S.-led air coalition, began a fresh operation aimed at purging remaining ISIL terrorists from Mosul’s western districts.

The offensive comes as part of a wider operation launched last October to retake the entire city, which ISIL overran along vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in mid-2014.