"We finished clearing Gogjali and took control of the Mosul television station building," Staff Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi said on Tuesday.

Major General Sami al-Aridi also confirmed the recapture of the TV station in Mosul, located in an eastern district of the city.

He noted that the advance on Mosul came after heavy fighting near the state TV building as Iraqi forces tried to push into more urban areas of the city.

The TV station is the first important building in Mosul that has been retaken by Iraqi troops since the beginning of the liberation operation.

True liberation of Mosul started

Also on Tuesday, a CTS commander stressed that the "true liberation" of the contested city had begun, with Iraqi troops being stationed at the edge of Mosul.

"Our final goal is arriving in Mosul and liberating the city," Staff General Taleb Sheghati al-Kenani told the Iraqiya state television from Gogjali.

More than two weeks ago, the Iraqi army, volunteer Shia and Sunni fighters as well as Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a long-awaited operation to wrest control of Mosul, the last stronghold of Daesh in the Arab country. Since then, the Iraqi forces have been advancing on the city on multiple fronts.

Many believe that the recapture of Mosul, which fell to ISIS in 2014, would signal the terror outfit’s total defeat in Iraq, Press TV reported.

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