The Iraqi armed forces have recaptured one whole district and part of another in western Mosul on Thursday. The army’s 9th Armoured Division took over Mesherfa al-Thalitha district, according to Nineveh Operations. Troops also gained control on the Mesherfa water purification project and liberated the northern part of Mesherfa al-Thaniya district in the framework of the current operations to liberate Mousl’s right bank from the grip of ISIS extremist group.

In the same context, reports revealed that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State group in the country is concluded, according to a U.S. official and an official from the Iraqi government.

Both officials underlined that the discussions are ongoing and that nothing is finalized. But the talks point to a consensus by both governments that, in contrast to the U.S. withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of American troops in Iraq is needed to ensure that an insurgency does not bubble up again once the militants are driven out.

On the military side, The Iraqi armed forces have recaptured one whole district and part of another in western Mosul on Thursday.

The army’s 9th Armoured Division took over Mesherfa al-Thalitha district, according to Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, commander of the Nineveh Operations. Troops also gained control on the Mesherfa water purification project and liberated the northern part of Mesherfa al-Thaniya district.

Security troops earlier liberated two villages and a street in northwestern Mosul as they resumed advance in the city, local sources said. Joint troops of armed forces and Federal Police controlled Mesherfa town, in the northwest of Mosul, and street 60, in the Mesherfa al-Thaniya district, the sources said.

Islamic State militants used four booby-trapped vehicles, driven by suicide bombers, to hamper the troops advance. Moreover, the troops also took over Dijla village, northwestern Mosul and freed thirty families who were held by the militants in the village, according to news reports.

According to local residents, IS militants began evacuating their families from Mesherfa and 17 Tamuz (July 17th) regions amid heavy firing to prevent civilians from fleeing.

Earlier on the day, Iraqi forces recaptured Hassouna village and the “Nineveh gas lab” in western Mosul as Iraqi armed forces opened a new front against Islamic State in Mosul on Thursday, advancing on the militants’ enclave from the northwest.

Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January after three months of battles between the militants and the Iraqi troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition and the paramilitary troops. A new offensive was launched in February to retake the west.

In the same context, Twenty Islamic State snipers have been killed by the Iraqi fighter jets in Hawija district, west of Kirkuk. In a statement on Thursday, the War Media Cell said “Iraqi air force launched two airstrikes that destroyed a stash of weapon of the IS militants and a snipers’ haven in addition to killing 20 snipers in Hawija.

In related news, Gen. Ali Fadel, commander of the East Dijla Operations Command, said operations to be launched soon to drive IS militants out of Hawija. “Security troops are tightening the grip on the district. Fighter jets launched several airstrikes against several IS militants and pockets there,” Fadel said in statements earlier on Thursday.

The commander urged residents to “stay as they are in case operations were launched to liberate the district and raise white flags to be distinguished and protected by troops.” Safe passageways, according to Fadel, “will be opened to allow civilians flee so troops would enter the district.” Dozens of residents from Hawija and the regions in its vicinity escape to Kirkuk province on a daily basis. Despite the risky routes to the freed regions, the civilians prefer death to staying under IS control.