Iraqi troops advance on western Mosul amid talks

IRAQI forces advanced into the southern outskirts of Mosul on the second day of a push to drive Islamic State militants from the western half of the city.

The push came as visiting US defence secretary Jim Mattis met with officials to discuss the fight against the extremists.

With aerial support from the USled coalition, Iraqi police and army troops launched the offensive on Sunday, part of a 100-day campaign that has already driven the militants from the eastern half of the city.

Iraqi helicopters fired rockets at the village of Abu Saif early yesterday, targeting a hill that overlooks the city’s airport.

By noon, the forces entered the village and gained control over much of the strategic hill as fighting was still raging.

Separately, militarised police in armoured vehicles were moving towards the sprawling Ghazlani military base on the south-western outskirts of the city.

The US-led coalition has been providing close air support throughout the campaign to retake Iraq’s second-largest city.

US special operations forces are embedded with some Iraqi units and thousands of US troops are in Iraq providing logistical and other support. Meanwhile, Mr Mattis was holding discussions with US and Iraqi officials, a week before he is expected to present a new strategy to President Donald Trump for defeating the Islamic State group.

“We’re going to make certain that we’ve got good situational awareness of what we face as we work together and fight alongside each other,” Mr Mattis said.