Iraq said Thursday that its U.S.-backed forces have retaken the airport in Mosul that had been controlled by the extremist Islamic State group since 2014.
In a flash on its screen, state television declared, "The Rapid Response Forces and federal police are fully in control of the airport of Mosul."
Iraqi forces launched a new bid to retake the western areas of Iraq's second-largest city on Sunday after saying in late January they had liberated eastern parts of the city.
Iraqi Lieutenant General Raid Shakir Jaudat said Baghdad's forces, backed by drones and heavy artillery, advanced on the airport from several positions. At first, accounts of the airport takeover said there was little Islamic State resistance, but later there were reports of Iraqi firefights with militants encamped in airport buildings.
One Iraqi special forces officer reported Islamic State fighters targeted Baghdad's fighters with a suicide car bomb and dozens of bombs dropped from drones. The officer said there were at least a dozen casualties, although many were light injuries.
Iraqi takeover of the airport would give its troops access to the city from the southwest and for the first time control of an area along the west bank of the Tigris River.