BAGHDAD (AP) -- An Iraqi military spokesman says government troops have fully liberated the sprawling complex of Mosul University, a major step in the massive operation to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

The spokesman of the Joint Military Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, declared Sunday that the campus was under the full control of Iraqi special forces, officially known as the Counter Terrorism Service, who raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.

Iraqi forces entered the university grounds Friday and managed to secure more than half of the campus the next day amid stiff resistance from IS militants, who mainly deployed sniper and mortar fire to slow down the advancing troops.

Sunday's progress is the latest in a string of swift territorial gains in recent weeks by the U.S.-backed Iraqi military.