Iraqi forces recapture Mosul police station from Daesh

By Ahmed Qassem and Ibrahim Saleh

NINEVEH, Iraq

Iraqi forces on Friday recaptured a police station in the northern city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group, according to a military source.

The police station’s recapture was the army’s first major move in the area since military operations were temporarily suspended last week in preparation for a broader attack -- along multiple fronts -- on parts of the city still held by the terrorist group.

"Forces from the 16th Division of the 76th Army Brigade and the Nineveh Guards Force began the operation on Friday at 8:00 a.m. [local time]," Staff Brigadier-General Nazim al-Kubaisi, who commands the 16th Division, told Anadolu Agency.

"Following two hours of clashes, they managed to entirely liberate Police Academy headquarters in Mosul’s northern Al-Qahira district," he said.

Al-Kubaisi went on to point out that U.S.-led coalition warplanes did not take part in Friday’s operation.

"Our forces will continue to advance on predetermined targets… and will join up with anti-terrorism forces and the army’s Ninth Division on the banks of the Tigris River on the left [i.e., northwest] side of Mosul," the army officer said.

In mid-October, the Iraqi army launched a wide-ranging offensive aimed at retaking Mosul, Daesh’s last major stronghold in northern Iraq.

Officials in Baghdad have vowed to recapture the city, which fell to the terrorist group in mid-2014, by year’s end.