Iraqi forces have fully retaken east Mosul from the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), AFP reported Wednesday (January 18th), three months after a huge offensive was launched.

Elite forces have in recent days entered the last neighbourhoods on the eastern side of Mosul, on the left bank of the Tigris River that runs through the city.

Speaking at a press conference in Bartella, a town east of Mosul, Staff Gen. Talib al-Sheghati, who heads the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), announced "the liberation... of the left bank".

He added, however, that while the east of the city could be considered under government control, some work remained to be done to flush out the last holdout extremists.

The "important lines and important areas are finished," he said, adding that "there is only a bit of the northern (front) remaining".

Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasul stressed that despite al-Sheghati's announcement, there would be more fighting in east Mosul in the coming days.

"Al-Sheghati is the head of CTS and he was talking about areas under CTS control. There are some neighbourhoods that are still being liberated and that could take a few days," he told AFP.

All the bridges across the Tigris in Mosul have been either blown up by ISIL or destroyed by coalition airstrikes, which has made it very difficult for ISIL to resupply its fighters in the city's east.