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		</div><p>Iraq&#8217;s militarised police forces have entered Mosul International Airport, taking over the runway amid fierce clashes with Islamic State fighters, according to officials.</p>
<p>The advance is part of a major assault that started five days ago to drive IS militants from the western half of Mosul, Iraq&#8217;s second-largest city.</p>
<p>Two officers said the airport buildings are under fire from federal police forces, and troops from the US-led coalition are with the advance.</p>
<p>Special forces troops had earlier joined the government offensive to push the militants out of the western half of Mosul, reaching a sprawling, IS-held military base on the city&#8217;s southern edge as police forces advanced towards the airport.</p>
<p>From the south, the elite counter-terrorism forces reached the Ghazlani base in the morning hours, officers said, adding that fierce clashes were under way at the base perimeter.</p>
<p>The advances come days after Iraqi forces officially launched the operation to take Mosul&#8217;s western half, with regular army and federal police forces taking part in the initial push.</p>
<p>Since the operation began on Sunday, Iraqi forces say they have retaken nearly 50 square miles south of the city.</p>
<p>&#8220;The counter-terrorism forces will be an additional force which will expedite the liberation of Mosul&#8217;s western side,&#8221; said Brigadier General Yahya Rasool.</p>
<p>The battle for western Mosul, the extremist group&#8217;s last major urban bastion in Iraq, is expected to be most daunting yet.</p>
<p>The streets are older and narrower in this section of the city, stretching west from the Tigris River that divides Mosul into the eastern and western half.</p>
<p>The dense urban environment is likely to force Iraqi soldiers to leave the relative safety of their armoured vehicles, and the presence of up to 750,000 civilians will also pose a challenge.</p>
<p>Mosul fell to IS in summer 2014, along with large areas of northern and western Iraq.</p>
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