Islamic State dislodged from last major city stronghold in Iraq

Elite Iraqi security forces dislodged Islamic State militants from the main government building in Mosul on Tuesday, their last major city stronghold in Iraq, an Iraqi spokesman said.

A special Rapid Response team stormed the Nineveh governorate building and the surrounding government complex in an overnight operation, Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammadawi, a spokesman for the elite interior ministry unit, told Reuters.

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“They killed tens from Daesh,” he said, referring to the Islamic State group by one of its Arabic acronyms.

Recapturing the site would help Iraqi forces attack the militants in the nearby old city center and mark a symbolic step toward restoring state authority over Mosul, even though the buildings are destroyed and not being used by Islamic State.