The Latest: Iraqi forces assessing damage to Nimrud site

MOSUL, Iraq – The Latest on the campaign to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group (all times local):

3 p.m.

Iraqi forces are assessing the damage to the ancient site of Nimrud, south of Mosul, after it was retaken from the Islamic State group over the weekend.

Maj. Gen. Dhiaa al-Saadi, the deputy commander of Iraqi ground forces who oversaw the operation, says IS almost completely destroyed the town's ancient Assyrian archaeological site. He said that even before he saw the site, he had heard by radio that "it was gone."

As the operation to retake Mosul progresses, al-Saadi said he expects to find more ruined heritage sites.

Iraqi troops entered Nimrud on Sunday in what was the most significant gain in several days for government forces.

The late 1980s discovery of treasures in Nimrud's royal tombs was one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds. The government said militants, who captured the site in June 2014, destroyed it the following year.

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9:30 a.m.

Iraqi special forces have begun a new push deeper into the northern city of Mosul, backed by airstrikes but under attack by rockets and suicide bombers from the Islamic State group.

Troops have established a foothold in the city's east, and drove northward Wednesday into the Tahrir neighborhood, where families left their houses to flee the fighting.

Artillery and airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition supported the advance, sending plumes of smoke into the air over the city.

Iraqi troops are converging from several fronts on Mosul, the country's second largest city and the last major IS holdout in Iraq. The special forces have been the tip of the spear, driving the furthest into the city itself, but they are still fighting over neighborhoods in the city's far east.