Iraqi counter-terrorism forces on Tuesday stormed Mosul’s eastern Kokjeli district, according to an Iraqi army source.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Lieutenant-General Abdel-Wahab al-Saedi, who led the operation, said anti-terrorism forces had managed to “fully liberate eastern parts of the district”.

The offensive was waged along two fronts after the neighborhood was entirely surrounded by Iraqi security forces, al-Saedi said.

The Kokjeli district is administratively part of Mosul city, which was overrun by the Daesh terrorist group in mid-2014.

On Oct. 18, the Iraqi army — backed by a U.S.-led air coalition — began a wide-ranging operation to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and capital of the northern Nineveh province.

Since then, dozens of Daesh-held villages on the city’s outskirts have fallen before the army onslaught, although the terrorist group remains in control of the city.