By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD 

Iraqi forces have captured a strategic bridge in western Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group following two days of fighting, Federal Police officials announced Wednesday.

Police units and rapid-reaction forces captured western Mosul’s Old Bridge before advancing on the city’s nearby Ras al-Khour district, Raed Jawdat, commander of Iraq’s Federal Police Agency, said in a statement.

Iraqi joint forces have also begun to advance on western Mosul’s Bab al-Bayd district, Samir Dawoud al-Mohsen, an officer in the Iraqi army’s 9th division, told Anadolu Agency.

In mid-February, Iraqi forces -- backed by a U.S.-led air coalition -- began fresh operations aimed at dislodging Daesh terrorists from western Mosul.

The offensive is part of a wider campaign launched last October to retake the entire city, which Daesh overran in mid-2014.