Iraqi forces gain ground in Mosul

Iraqi special forces stormed the Mosul University complex in the city's northeast yesterday and pushed forward to reach another bridge across the Tigris river, beating Islamic State further back, the military said.

The militants were fighting back at the university, which they seized when they took over the city in 2014. There were heavy clashes inside the campus, a Reuters reporter said.

Iraqi forces have recaptured most districts in eastern Mosul in nearly three months of a US-backed offensive.

A senior Iraqi counter-terrorism service (CTS) officer said the university was the most important Islamic State base in the eastern half of the city.

Iraqi forces aim to take full control of the eastern bank of the Tigris river, which bisects Mosul from north to south, before they can launch attacks on the west, which Islamic State still fully holds.

Driving the ultra-hardline group out of its Mosul stronghold will probably spell the end for the Iraqi side of its self-styled caliphate that stretches across areas of Iraq and Syria.

Earlier in the day, bulldozers smashed through a wall surrounding the campus and dozens of CTS troops sprinted through carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, a Reuters reporter said.

An Iraqi officer said army units backed by air strikes had also taken control of Hadba district, north of the university, and would aid the assault on the complex.

In a separate advance further south in the city, other elite CTS units reached the 2nd Bridge, also called Freedom Bridge, one of five across the Tigris, the military statement reported by state TV said.

Iraqi forces have now reached Mosul's two southernmost bridges, having battled their way to the 4th Bridge several days ago.

Assaults on the western half of Mosul are expected to begin once Iraqi forces have secured the east bank.