Iraqi forces occupied a village south of Mosul on Saturday after U.S. airstrikes drove out Islamic State fighters, who had fled the village of Shura by using civilians as human shields.
The Iraqi ground forces were joined by Shiite militias who put pressure on Islamic State militants by opening up a front to the west of Mosul, according to the Associated Press.
The campaign to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, by ground forces has been weeks in the making, and is considered a significant step to regain control of Iraq from Islamic State militants.
The taking of villages outside and around Mosul is considered the best way to ensure that Iraqi and Kurdish forces will be able to hold the city once it is retaken, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday.
Since the Mosul campaign began on Oct. 17, U.S.-led forces have pounded the Islamic Stat with nearly 2,500 bombs, missiles, artillery rounds and rockets on enemy positions, according to the spokesman.
The weapons destroyed supply tunnels, 33 vehicle-borne bombs, hundreds of enemy vehicles, fighting positions and artillery pieces, Air Force Col. John Dorrian told reporters via video conference from Baghdad.
