MOSUL AIRPORT, IRAQ: As Iraqi ground troops pushed into western Mosul on Friday, the country’s air force struck Islamic State group targets inside Syria for the first time in response to recent bombings in Baghdad claimed by the militants.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people were killed in Islamic State attacks near a key northern Syrian town captured only a day earlier from the extremists by Turkish forces and their Syrian opposition allies.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the Iraqi airstrikes in Syria in a statement, saying the border towns of Boukamal and Husseibah were targeted in response to recent bombings in Baghdad linked to Islamic State group operations there.
Iraqi forces closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition pushed into the first neighborhood of western Mosul and took full control of the city’s international airport and a sprawling military base on the southwestern edge of the city, according to Iraqi officials.
The territorial gains were the most significant yet in the battle, now in its sixth day, to rout Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul.
As Iraqi warplanes struck IS targets across the border, militants in northern Syria staged a suicide car bomb attack outside a security office operated by the Syrian opposition in a village 5 miles north of al-Bab, killing at least 60 people. The town had been controlled by IS since late 2013, but the militants finally retreated Thursday.