Story highlights Al-Qayyara air base can be used in further missions against ISIS

38 ISIS militants were killed in the operation

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have retaken an air base from ISIS near Mosul, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Saturday.

The Iraqi military and counter-terrorism forces are now in the process of sweeping al-Qayyara air base, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Mosul, the country's second-largest city.

At least 38 ISIS militants were killed in the operation to retake the base, Sabah Nouri, the spokesman for Iraq's counter-terrorism unit, said Saturday on Iraqi state television station al-Iraqiya TV.

The forces have also destroyed four trucks mounted with machine guns and detonated more than 100 improvised explosive devices, Nouri added.

Recapturing and securing al-Qayyarah -- one of the biggest air bases in Iraq -- is seen as a breakthrough in the mission to liberate Mosul, as the base can be used by the army and the U.S.-led international coalition in further missions against ISIS in the region.

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