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MOSUL, Iraq, May 20-- Iraqi forces on Saturday freed two more neighborhoods after heavy clashes against Islamic State (IS) militants as part of a push that initiated a new front in the northern part of IS stronghold in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said. The army, federal police and interior ministry's elite Rapid Response forces completely freed the neighborhoods of July 17 after days of heavy clashes, Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. The recapture of the neighborhood came six days after the troops launched a new push into four neighborhoods of the northern part of Mosul's western side. Meanwhile, the CTS forces retook control of the neighborhood of al-Rabie in the northern part of the IS stronghold in Mosul's western side and raised the Iraqi flag on some of its buildings, Yarallah said in a separate statement. The troops are now pushing to advance further to the remaining neighborhoods on the northern edge of the city center to tighten noose around the IS redoubt in the neighborhoods of Mosul's old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule. Also in the day, the CTS forces announced their mission complete despite the ongoing battles in a few neighborhoods in north of the IS-held old city center in the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of the Tigris River which bisects the city. | 
