By Ahmed Qasim and Ibrahim Salih

NINEVEH, Iraq

Iraqi forces have captured two more villages near the northern city of Mosul from Daesh militants, according to an Iraqi army officer.

Ahmed al-Shemari, a captain in the Iraqi army’s Nineveh Operations Command, said army forces seized control of the villages of al-Hokool and Ali Rash north and east of Mosul.

On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes -- launched a much-anticipated operation to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city which Daesh overran in mid-2014.

While most villages on the city’s outskirts have since fallen, Daesh remains in control of Mosul, the last Daesh stronghold in northern Iraq.