Iraqi forces have recaptured the ancient town of Nimrud
from Daesh militant group, the Iraqi army said Sunday.
"Troops from the Ninth Armored Division liberated Nimrud town
completely and raised the Iraqi flag above its buildings," General
Abdulamir Rashid Yarullah, head of the army's Nineveh Operations
Command, said in a statement.
He said Iraqi troops have inflicted losses of life and equipment
on Daesh group during the operation to retake the town.
Nimrud lies about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the northern
city of Mosul, which the Iraqi army is attempting to recapture from
Daesh militants.
Army officer Mohamed al-Jabouri said Iraqi troops have also
captured the village of Numaniya on the edge of the ancient
city.
"Our forces are now clearing the village of landmines and bombs
planted by Daesh," he told Anadolu Agency.
Nimrud was the capital of the Assyrian empire between
approximately 1250 BC and 610 BC.
In 2015, Daesh militants destroyed relics in the ancient city
for what it says their "un-Islamic" nature.
Last month, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition
airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- launched a
wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, which was overran
by Daesh in mid-2014, along with vast swathes of territory in
northern and western Iraq.
Recent months have seen the Iraqi army and its allies retake
much territory from the terrorist group, especially on Mosul’s
outskirts and in Iraq’s western Anbar province.