EghtesadOnline: Iraqi forces on Thursday thrust into Mosul airport on the southern edge of the militant stronghold for the first time since the self-styled Islamic State group overran the region in 2014.

EghtesadOnline: Iraqi security forces drove Islamic State fighters from the center of a town just south of the militants' main stronghold of Mosul on Saturday and reached within a few km (miles) of an airport on the edge of the city, a senior commander said.