Baghdad: A senior commander says Iraqi militarised police have captured a neighbourhood on the western side of Mosul amid fierce clashes with Islamic State militants.
Major General Haider al-Maturi of the Federal Police Commandos Division told The Associated Press that his troops entered the Tayaran neighbourhood Sunday morning and it is now "under their full control."
Al-Maturi said IS militants deployed at least 10 suicide car bombs, but nine of them were blown up before reaching their targets. The 10th killed two policemen and wounded five. Al-Maturi added that his forces arrested two militants - an Iraqi and a foreigner who speaks Russian.
Iraqi forces, backed by aerial support from the US-led international coalition, control eastern Mosul. Iraq's second largest city is split roughly in half by the Tigris River.
