The city of Mosul has been occupied by ISIL since June 2014. The operation to retake it began on October 17, 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul’s eastern part this January, but fighting continues in the city's western areas. The operation to liberate it started on February 19, with Iraqi forces closing in on the Old City.
ISIL had declared a caliphate in the captured territories.
SPUTNIK/MNA