Iraqi forces liberated Nineveh governmental building

Iraqi governmental troops resumed their advance during the military operations to liberate Mousl’s right bank from the grip of ISIS, as they managed to control strategic areas from the extremist group. Meanwhile ISIS leaders issued their orders to the militants existed in Mousl to withdraw to the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Iraqi security forces regained control over Nineveh Governorate building and the second bridge in the right bank of Mosul city, Commander of "We are Coming Nineveh" military operations Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yar Allah announced on Tuesday.

Iraqi Federal Police and Rapid Intervention Forces took control over al-Hurriya Bridge, which is also known as the second bridge in Mosul, and the old governmental building in Nineveh and raised the Iraqi flag over it.

The military advance coincided with the visit conducted by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday to Mosul in order to inspect the troops of "WE Are Coming Nineveh" participating in the military operation to retake Mosul. Abadi's surprise visit to Mosul comes after advances achieved by Iraqi security forces in Mosul's right bank and the liberation of most of the government administrative buildings in the city.

According a military source, the Iraqi forces managed to control the building of Central Bank in Mousl seized by the extremist group in 2014. Iraqi military leader Abdel Amir Al Mohamedawy said that Elite Iraqi security forces dislodged Islamic State militants from the main government buildings in Mosul on Tuesday, their last major city stronghold in Iraq.

Mosul’s main museum, which was damaged and looted by the militants, was also taken, Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammadawi, a spokesman for the elite interior ministry Rapid Response units said.

A special Rapid Response team stormed the Nineveh governorate building and the surrounding government complex in an overnight raid that lasted about an hour, he said. He added, “They killed tens from Daesh.”

Seizing the government complex would help Iraqi forces attack the militants in the nearby old city center and mark a symbolic step towards restoring state authority over Mosul, even though the buildings are destroyed and not being used by Islamic State.

The battle for Mosul, which started on Oct. 17, will now enter a more complicated phase in the densely populated old city where, the Iraqi military believes, several thousand militants are among the remaining civilian population.

It was from the grand al-Nuri Mosque in the old city that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in 2014 a “caliphate” spanning parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The old city lies on the western bank of the Tigris river that cuts Mosul in two halves. About 750,000 people were estimated by aid organizations to live in west Mosul when the offensive started on this side of the city on Feb. 19.

The Iraqi forces took the eastern half of the city in January, after 100 days of fighting.