OREIJ, (Iraq): Iraqi forces launched an offensive Sunday on jihadists defending Mosul’s west bank, in what could be the most brutal fighting yet in a four-month-old operation on the country’s second city.

They swiftly retook at least five villages and set their sights on Mosul airport, which lies just south of the city, marking a new phase in Iraq’s largest military operation in years.

The Islamic State group has put up stiff resistance to defend Mosul, the city where its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014.

“Our forces are beginning the liberation of the citizens from the terror of Daesh,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a short televised speech, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

“We announce the start of a new phase in the operation. We are coming, Nineveh, to liberate the western side of Mosul,” he said, referring to the province of which Mosul is the capital.

A top army commander then announced that forces led by federal police units retook villages south of Mosul, including Athbah, which leaves them within striking distance of the airport.

“We launched our operation at 7:00 am (0400 GMT)... We are heading towards the airport,” said Abbas al-Juburi of the interior ministry’s elite Rapid Response force.

“We destroyed two car bombs and killed several Daesh members,” he told AFP near the front line.

Military vehicles blared patriotic songs as heavy bombardment and shooting could be heard in the distance.

The jihadists overran Mosul and swathes of other territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, sweeping aside security forces ill-prepared to face the assault.

The Iraqi government launched the offensive to reconquer Mosul on October 17, throwing tens of thousands of forces into the long-awaited counter-attack with air and ground support from the US-led coalition.

The Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS declared east Mosul “fully liberated” on January 24.

But it took Iraq’s most seasoned forces — the elite Counter-Terrorism Service — more than two months to clear the eastern side of Mosul.

After a pause, federal forces now face what was always billed as the toughest nut to crack: Mosul’s west bank, home to the narrow streets of the Old City.

“West Mosul had the potential certainly of being more difficult, with house-to-house fighting on a larger and more bloody scale,” said Patrick Skinner, from the Soufan Group intelligence consultancy.—AFP