Photo: Reuters

Iraqi forces have entered a neighbourhood in West Mosul for the first time since launching an operation to retake it from so-called Islamic State (IS) five days ago, the BBC reports.

It comes a day after troops retook the city’s airport from IS.

The army’s assault takes them from desert and farmland into a densely packed city, where fighting is expected to be particularly hard.

IS are dug into the west after being driven out of eastern Mosul last month.

Iraqi forces carried out heavy air strikes overnight ahead of the ground attack on the city itself.