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Rapid response
units from Iraq's federal police advanced in the Sumer district,
which lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris river, and also in
neighboring Sahiroun, the statement reported by state television
said.
Forces have pressed forward much more slowly in that area than
units in the east and northeast, who have taken control of a
number of neighborhoods in the past week.
The army's elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), has
spearheaded advances in eastern Mosul.
The U.S.-backed campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State's
last major stronghold in Iraq, has pushed ahead with renewed
vigor since the turn of the year after troops got bogged down
inside the city in November and December.
New tactics, including one night raid, better defenses against
suicide car bomb attacks and improved coordination between the
army and security forces, have helped forge momentum, U.S and
Iraqi officers say.
The ultra-hardline group's loss of Mosul would probably spell
the end for the Iraqi side of its self-styled caliphate, which
it declared after sweeping through parts of Iraq and Syria in
2014.
(Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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