Major General Haider al-Maturi of the Federal Police Commandos Division told The Associated Press that his troops marched into the Tayaran neighborhood of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, on Sunday morning.

Maturi added that the neighborhood “is now under their full control,” noting that Daesh militants made use of at least 10 car bombs to stop Iraqi forces making quick advances on multiple fronts.

Nine of the explosive-laden cars were blown up before reaching their targets, while the last one left two police officers dead and five others wounded, the Iraqi commander said, adding that his forces had captured two militants - an Iraqi national and a foreigner speaking Russian.

The development came shortly after the commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, announced that members of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) had liberated Ma’moun neighborhood in western Mosul.

Yarallah said government forces raised the Iraqi flag over several buildings in the area.

Meanwhile, Iraqi government forces continue to punch through the defenses of Daesh extremists stationed in western Mosul, trying to build a floating bridge across the Tigris River to establish an important supply route into the eastern part of Mosul.

“We had an important operation this morning to move towards the bridge,” Colonel Falah al-Wabdan of the rapid response forces told AFP in the Hawi al-Jawsaq area on the western outskirts of Mosul.
“We have moved past a large berm constructed by Daesh with tunnels underneath,” he said, adding that there are mines strewn around the area and members of the rapid response forces had killed 44 Takfiris on Sunday alone.

Wabdan further noted that securing the area near the fourth bridge on the Tigris River would allow engineering units to extend a ribbon bridge to the other quarter of Mosul, and heap further pressure on Daesh militants.

“It is very important because if we take it, engineering units... will be able to throw a bridge across from the left bank so we can move supplies and ammunition from the battle field,” he said, Press TV reported.