The Iraqi army says the 9th Division has pushed into a town southeast of the Daesh-held city of Mosul and raised the Iraqi flag over a government compound in the town's center. The army claimed to have taken the town of Hamdaniyah, also known as Qaraqosh and Bakhdida, on Saturday, but was likely still facing pockets of resistance in and around the town. Similar past announcements have often proved premature. Two officers from the 9th Division confirmed troops had captured the government compound and raised the flag over it. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. Hamdaniyah is around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mosul. Iraqi forces launched a wide-scale offensive earlier this week aimed at retaking Mosul, the country's second largest city, which fell to Daesh in 2014.
