Iraqi forces on Wednesday closed in on the center of Qayyarah, officials said, on the second day of an operation to recapture the town from radicals.
Qayyarah lies on the western bank of the Tigris river, about 60 km south of Mosul, the Daesh group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Najm Al-Juburi from the operations command for Nineveh, the province in which both Qayyarah and Mosul are located, said the town was now encircled.
“There are only a few meters left before troops advancing from the west and troops coming from the east meet and complete the siege around Qayyarah,” he told AFP.
He said the vast majority of villages around Qayyarah had been retaken since special forces launched the operation on Tuesday.
Al-Juburi and other military officials in the area confirmed the progress and said that a nearby oil field and refinery had also been recaptured from Daesh.
“Liberating Qayyarah will mean cutting off Mosul from the southern areas, which will make liberating Mosul much easier,” Juburi said.
“This is a blow to the organization of Daesh because it affects their economy, and this after we retook an air base that is now going to be used to attack them,” he said.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Tuesday reiterated his promise that Mosul would be retaken and the country rid of Daesh by the end of 2016. Iraqi security forces have been operating in the area for weeks.

Source: Arab News