Iraq said Friday it had launched its first airstrikes against Daesh targets inside neighboring Syria, retaliation for recent deadly attacks by the extremist militia in Baghdad.The bombardment targeted Daesh facilities in a Syrian area on the border with Iraq, the army said in a statement."The heroes of the Iraqi Force early today used F-16 aircraft in targeting terrorists' hideouts in Husaiba and al-Bu Kamal inside the Syrian lands," the statement read.The targets were destroyed, the army's Joint Operations Command said without details.Footage released by the army showed what it said were airstrikes against Daesh positions in al-Bu Kamal.Last week, at least 54 people were killed in a car bombing claimed bythe radical group in the mostly Shiite Baghdad of Bayaa, the latest such attack in the city.Iraq is engaged in US-backed fight against Daesh, which holds chunks of Iraqi territory.Last week, Iraqi forces started a major offensive to dislodge Daesh from the western section of Mosul, almost a month after they drove the militants from the eastern side of the northern city.On Friday, Iraq said its forces had seized a major military base from Daesh and stormed the first district in the western part of Mosul.The elite counterterrorism forces "fully liberated" the Ghazlani camp and the Mosul airport, Abdul Amir Rasheed, the commander of the government operation, said.Recapturing the airport and the adjacent Ghazlani base, located on the southern outskirts of Mosul, is set to boost Iraq's ongoing mission to regain the western section of the city, which is still under Daesh control.Rasheed said that Iraqi forces had entered the district of al-Mamoun, the first district in western Mosul."The terrorism combat service forces have stormed al-Mamoun and are making progress," he added in a statement, without giving details.The battle for regaining the western side of Mosul is likely to be tough due the population density and the narrow streets of the region.Daesh seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in mid-2014. The city is seen as Daesh's last key stronghold in Iraq.

On Friday, the terrorist group has suffered major military setbacks after Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army forces have taken control of all neighborhoods in Syria's Al-Bab.

A total of 230 residential areas and 1,925 square kilometers of land have been freed from the Daesh terror group in northern Syria since the onset last August of the Turkey-backed military operation in the region.