The Iraqi army has launched an offensive to liberate the northern city of Mosul from Daesh terrorists. The army says its forces have managed to flush the terrorists out of several villages. It also says the offensive is the first phase of the operation aimed at recapturing Mosul which fell to Daesh two years ago. The Iraqi troops have also been making major gains against Daesh in the western Anbar province, dealing a major blow to the terror group. Daesh terrorists occupied large swathes of land in northern and western Iraq following their onslaught in June 2014. But they have lost much of the territory to Iraqi forces since then.