U.S.-supported Iraqi forces continue to retake territory from the Islamic State in Mosul, the last major Iraqi city under ISIS control. Among the survivors in newly rescued neighborhoods are one lion and one bear, the sole animal survivors of the Mosul zoo.
Simba the lion and Lula the bear are now receiving treatment from a "roving war zone veterinarian" named Dr. Amir Khalil, who is working with an animal charity called Four Paws. The zoo's other creatures all escaped or died during the two-year ISIS occupation. Some were killed by bombs; others ate each other; and some animals simply flew the coop.
Iraqi soldiers also retook Mosul's airport this week, Brig. Gen. Abbas al-Juburi confirmed Friday, which means ISIS fighters in Mosul are trapped in a shrinking circle of territory they still control. The airport is mostly destroyed, but it gives the Iraqis a strategically important foothold on the western side of the city.
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