BAGHDAD: A high ranking Iraqi commander informed media that Iraqi forces led by federal police units had retaken two villages south of Mosul as part of a fresh push on the city´s west bank on Sunday. Army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir Yarallah said in a statement that forces advancing toward Mosul airport retook Athbah and Al-Lazzagah, reviving a four-month-old offensive that was paused following the reconquest last month of the city´s east bank. The southern front in the Mosul offensive had remained largely stagnant for weeks as the forces deployed there waited for the completion of operations on the city´s east bank. The two villages and neighbouring areas that federal police and the Iraqi Interior Ministry´s elite Rapid Response forces retook on Sunday are the last before Mosul airport. The airport and a nearby military base mark the southern approach to Mosul, on the east bank of the Tigris River that divides the city. Elite fighting units are expected to attempt a foray into the city´s western side in the coming days.