Alice Martins for The Washington PostA man, blindfolded and handcuffed, kneels on the ground between two members of the Iraqi security forces after being accused of having links to the Islamic State group and being detained.
Khalid Mohammed, The Associated PressDisplaced Iraqis flee their homes due to fighting between Iraqi special forces and Islamic State militants, on the western side of Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 2017. The Iraqi security forces advance comes as part of a major assault that started five days earlier to drive Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
Khalid Mohammed, The Associated PressIraqi special forces advance towards the western side of Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. The advance comes as part of a major assault that started five days earlier to drive Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE, AFP/Getty ImagesSmoke billows as Iraqi forces attack Mosul airport during an offensive to retake the western side of the city from jihadists of the Islamic State group on Feb. 23, 2017. Iraqi forces entered Mosul airport, which lies on the southern edge of the city, for the first time since the Islamic State group overran the region in 2014. Control of the base and airport would set government forces up to enter Mosul neighbourhoods on the west bank of the Tigris, a month after declaring full control of the east bank.
AL-RUBAYE/AFP, Getty ImagesIraqi forces advance on Feb. 23, 2017 towards Mosul airport on the southern edge of the jihadist stronghold for the first time since the Islamic State group overran the region in 2014. Backed by jets, gunships and drones, forces blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul and entered the airport compound, apparently meeting limited resistance but strafing the area for suspected snipers.
Photo by Martyn, Aim/Getty ImagesAn injured Iraqi Emergency Response Division (ERD) soldier hit by a mortar is held by another officer as they wait for medics to arrive at the Islamic State occupied Mosul Airport in west Mosul, part of the offensive to retake the city some two years after it fell to the hardline jihadist group, Feb. 23, 2017. Iraqi forces encountered stiff resistance with improvised explosives, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance before they successfully took the airport.
AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty ImagesSmoke billows in the background as Iraqi forces advance on Feb. 23, 2017 towards Mosul airport on the southern edge of the jihadist stronghold entering the compound for the first time since the Islamic State group overran the region in 2014. Backed by jets, gunships and drones, forces blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul and entered the airport compound, apparently meeting limited resistance but strafing the area for suspected snipers.
Martyn Aim, Getty ImagesA burning Islamic State militant's car set alight by Iraqi forces in the recently liberated village of Sayarmoon, on the border of west Mosul, Feb. 23, 2017. The militant's car had an Islamic State rather than Iraqi government registered number plate. Iraqi forces have begun their offensive to take back west Mosul, some two years after it fell to the hardline jihadist group.
Photo by Martyn, Aim/Getty ImagesIraqi Emergency Response Division (ERD) troops advance on the Islamic State occupied Mosul Airport in west Mosul, as part of the offensive to retake the city some two years after it fell to the hardline jihadist group on Feb. 23, 2017. Iraqi forces encountered stiff resistance with improvised explosives, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance before they successfully took the airport.
ALRUBAYE/AFP/Getty ImagesIraqi forces advance on Feb. 23, 2017 towards Mosul airport on the southern edge of the jihadist stronghold for the first time since the Islamic State group overran the region in 2014. Backed by jets, gunships and drones, forces blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul and entered the airport compound, apparently meeting limited resistance but strafing the area for suspected snipers.
John Beck, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday Feb. 21, 2017 photo, Iraqi security forces run towards the house of a suspected Islamic State fighter, in Mosul, Iraq. Security forces have launched several a week, arresting suspected IS members still living in the city.
John Beck, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 photo, a masked Iraqi security officer stands guard outside a house during a raid on suspected Islamic State group fighters, in Mosul, Iraq.
John Beck, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday Feb. 21, 2017 photo, Iraqi security forces enter a house while searching for suspected Islamic State group fighters, in Mosul, Iraq. The security forces launch three or four raids a week, arresting suspected IS members still living in the city.
John Beck, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 photo, an Iraqi security official holds a hooded Islamic State group suspect in the back of a pickup truck after arresting him in Mosul, Iraq. Suspects are identified via intelligence gathered from information received from other civilians in the city.
John Beck, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 photo, an Iraqi security officer holds an Islamic State group suspect after arresting him, in eastern Mosul, Iraq. Suspects are identified via intelligence gathered from information received from other civilians in the city.
John Beck, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 photo, Iraqi security officers place a suspected Islamic State group member into the back of a waiting pickup truck, in east Mosul.
John Beck, Associated PressIn this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 photo Iraqi security forces search a civilian in the city of Mosul. Security forces search the liberated eastern part of the city for suspected Islamic State group members still living in the town. (AP Photo/John Beck)
Ryan Remiorz, APA cache of weapons captured from ISIS is seen at the regional Pechmerga headquarters Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, in Bashiqa, Iraq. The town in the Mosul district was liberated last Nov. after being under ISIS control for two years.
Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via The Associated PressA member of the Asaish Kurdish security force looks at an ISIS tunnel on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 in Bashiqa, Iraq. The town in the Mosul district was liberated last Nov. after being under ISIS control for two years.
Khalid Mohammed, The Associated PressDisplaced Iraqis flee their homes due to fighting between Iraqi special forces and Islamic State militints, in the Mamun neighborhood, on the western side of Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 2017. The advance comes as part of a major assault that started five days earlier to drive Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
AL-RUBAYE,Getty ImagesMembers of the Iraqi security forces pose from atop an armoured vehicle in the village of al-Buseif, south of Mosul, during an offensive by Iraqi forces to retake the western side of the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters on Feb. 22, 2017. Al-Buseif, which was retaken by Iraqi forces, is a key checkpoint on the main Baghdad highway south of Mosul and a natural citadel overlooking the airport and the south of the city.
CNES Distribution Airbus DS, AFP/Getty ImagesThis handout image taken by EADS' Astrium Press on Feb. 19, 2017 by Pleiades Satellite shows a general view of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Iraqi forces on February 23 thrust into Mosul airport on the southern edge of the jihadist stronghold for the first time since the Islamic State group overran the region in 2014.Getty Images
Alice Martins for The Washington Post
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A man, blindfolded and handcuffed, kneels on the ground between two members of the Iraqi security forces after being accused of having links to the Islamic State group and being detained.
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By Glen Barber | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED:
Getting your player ready...
Closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi forces secured a series of cautious advances on Thursday, pushing into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city’s airport, where they took control of the runway.
The three-pronged attack began just after sunrise, with three convoys of Iraqi forces snaking north across Nineveh’s hilly desert on Mosul’s southern approach. Iraq’s special forces joined federal police and rapid response units in the push – part of a major assault that started earlier this week to drive IS from the western half of Iraq’s second-largest city.