Iraqi military forces have fully secured Mosul University, discovering that the self-styled Islamic State terrorists had been using it as a bomb-making factory and killing field for civilians.
A spokesman for the Iraqi military said the campus was fully secured on Saturday after a more than daylong assault on the sprawling campus, UPI reported.
It represents significant advances in the months-long offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in the country. It is the first time government forces have reached the Tigris, which separates Mosul’s east and west sides.
With most of the eastern portion of the city back under government control for the first time since 2014, fighters will now focus on retaking the western half.
Iraqi and US military leaders, who are helping coordinate the assault, said hundreds of IS fighters were killed in the battle to retake Mosul University.
Aljazeera reported government troops used a bulldozer to knock through a brick wall surrounding the campus. Once inside on Friday, troops came under heavy small arms fire before they were able to retake the campus.
Once under the military’s control, a spokesman said troops found a bomb-making factory and chemical agents the IS has been accused of using against civilians.
Troops are working to defuse the bombs and the chemicals have been sent for testing to confirm whether they have been used as weapons.
