Updated March 07, 2017 21:43:38

Photo: US-backed Iraqi forces are reported to have captured further ground in western Mosul. (AP: Khalid Mohammed)

Iraqi security forces have captured the main government buildings in western Mosul from the Islamic State group (IS), a senior Iraqi military commander says.

Lieutenant General Abdul-Amir Raheed Yar Allah said troops hoisted an Iraqi flag on the Nineveh government complex on Tuesday, hailing the federal police as "heroes".

He said the troops now controlled the western side of a second bridge across the Tigris River, known as Hurriyah Bridge.

Mosul's main museum, which was damaged and looted by the militants, was also seized by troops, according to Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammadawi, a spokesman for the elite Interior Ministry rapid response units.

"They killed tens from Daesh," he said, referring to IS by one of its Arabic acronyms.

The advance came more than two weeks since a new push to drive IS from Mosul, their last major city stronghold in Iraq.

The battle for Mosul will now enter a more complicated phase in the densely populated old city, where it is believed several thousand militants are among the remaining civilian population.

The city of Mosul is a war zone, and it's full of fear, confusion, and flying bullets. Matt Brown and Aaron Hollett went to the front lines to report for Four Corners.

It was from the grand al-Nuri Mosque in the old city that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in 2014 a "caliphate" spanning parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

The old city lies on the western bank of the Tigris river that cuts Mosul in two halves.

About 750,000 people were estimated by aid organisations to live in western Mosul when the offensive started on this side of the city on February 19.

Iraqi forces captured the eastern side of Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting.

A US-led coalition is providing key air and ground support to support the offensive, which started on October 17.

Militants 'trying to flee city'

Although government forces faced a "very hard fight" in Mosul, there was little doubt Iraqi troops would eventually prevail against IS, US Air Force Brigadier General Matthew Isler said.

"The game is up. They have lost this fight and what you're seeing is a delaying action," he said.

The deputy commander for the coalition's air forces said IS fighters were withdrawing from the battlefield, leaving local militants to fend off advances by Iraqi forces.

"We do see an intent for them to leave the city. I think that many of them are going to try to find a way out," he said.

"They're not well-organised and well-integrated and as a result of that, Iraqi security forces are able to make significant progress each day."

He said coalition airstrikes in the run-up to the start of the military campaign had made a significant impact on the course of the battle, with many IS operational leaders killed before Iraqi forces began attacking the west.

AP/Reuters

Topics: defence-forces, unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, iraq

First posted March 07, 2017 19:53:35