Iraq's war against IS terrorism | Updates and Discussions

[f1000n]

7th division killed 21 ISIS militants and destroyed 3 vehicles near Haditha Dam NW Ramadi Anbar

 

[Hindustani78]

Iraqi special forces soldiers move in formation in an alley on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world...ate-for-last-town-south-of-mosul_1946686.html

Near Hammam Al-Alil (Iraq) Iraqi troops advancing towards Mosul battled on Saturday for the last town left between them and the Islamic State stronghold to the north, which is already under assault from special forces fighting inside the city`s eastern districts.

Saturday`s attack on Hammam al-Alil, about 15 km (10 miles) south of Mosul, targeted a force of at least 70 Islamic State fighters in the Tigris river town, commander of the Mosul operations Major-General Najm al-Jabouri said.

Jabouri said the assault began around 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) and some militants had tried to escape across the river, although others put up heavy resistance and the troops had thwarted three attempted suicide car bombings.

"(The battle) is very important - it`s the last town for us before Mosul," Jabouri told reporters. Iraqi helicopters were supporting the army, he said, backed also by jets from a U.S.-led air coalition which had been hitting Islamic State targets in the town for several days.

A military statement said security forces had raised the Iraqi flag over a government building in the town, but did not say whether it was fully under their control.

The army and accompanying security forces aim to push the southern front up to Mosul to join troops and special forces that broke into the city`s east this week, taking six districts and carving out a foothold in the militants` Iraq bastion.

Recapturing Mosul would effectively crush the Iraqi half of a self-proclaimed caliphate declared by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from the pulpit of a Mosul mosque two years ago. His Islamist group also controls large parts of east Syria.

"WE WILL LIBERATE YOU"

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking on a visit to the eastern battle front, said he brought "a message to the residents inside Mosul who are hostages in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State) - we will liberate you soon".

Abadi said progress in the nearly three-week-old campaign, and the advance into Mosul itself, had been faster than expected. But in the face of fierce resistance, which has included suicide car bombings, sniper fire and roadside bombs, he suggested that progress may be intermittent.

"Our heroic forces will not retreat and will not be broken. Maybe in the face of terrorist acts, criminal acts, there will be some delay," he said.

So far the area which the army says it controls in east Mosul remains only a small part of the city which was home to 2 million people before Islamic State took over in 2014. More than 1 million remain in the city - by far the largest under Islamic State control in either Iraq or Syria.

A Reuters correspondent in the village of Ali Rash, about 7 km (4 miles) southeast of Mosul, saw smoke rising from eastern districts of the city on Saturday, while air strikes, artillery and gunfire could be heard.

The United Nations has warned of a possible exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Mosul. So far only 31,000 have been displaced, of which more than 3,000 have already returned to their homes, said William Lacy Swing, head of the International Organization for Migration.

"The numbers are not as large so far as had been expected. We`d heard figures all the way up to 500,000 or 700,000," he told Reuters.

"We`re trying to prepare accordingly, but it`s very difficult to do contingency planning with any level of accuracy because we don`t know what they’re going to find when they get inside". In Hammam al-Alil, the jihadists had taken hundreds of people as human shields, although Jabouri said it was not clear how many people were left in the town. Before Islamic State swept in more than two years ago, Hammam al-Alil and outlying villages had a population of 65,000.

As well as forcing residents to remain as they came under attack in Hammam al-Alil, Islamic State fighters retreating north in the last two weeks have forced thousands to march with them as cover from air strikes, villagers have told Reuters.

The United Nations said the militants transported 1,600 abducted civilians from Hammam al-Alil to the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, on Tuesday and took another 150 families from the town to Mosul the next day.

They told residents to hand over children, especially boys aged over nine, in an apparent recruitment drive for child soldiers, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.

Jabouri said a man he described as a senior Islamic State figure, Ammar Salih Ahmed Abu Bakr, was killed by federal police - who are fighting with the army in Hammam al-Alil - as he tried to escape by car.

Many of the remaining militants were non-Iraqis, he said. "There are at least 70 Daesh fighters in the town. The majority are foreign fighters, so they don`t know where to go. They are just moving from place to place."

Reuters

First Published: Saturday, November 5, 2016 - 22:31

Wow....Isis has barely 5000fighters there while opposing side has over 40,000fighters coupled with U S/U.K and COALITION massive airpower. That's a big imbalance of Power. Should be able to crush ISIS in no time.

At least seven special forces troops have been killed in the fighting.

More than 3,000 Iraqi troops took part in the assault under heavy US-led coalition air support, but the pace of the fight also slowed as Iraqi forces moved from fighting in more rural areas with few civilians to the tight, narrow streets of Mosul proper.

************
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world...people-near-mosul-in-iraq-police_1946565.html
TIKRIT: Two roadside bombs struck a convoy carrying Iraqi families fleeing an Islamic State-controlled town in the north of the country late on Friday, killing 18 people, a police officer said.bomb

The bombs targeted a truck carrying people from Hawija, about 120 km (75 miles) south of Islamic State`s stronghold in Mosul, as they were being taken to the town of Al Alam, next to the Tigris river.

Seventeen of the dead were from the displaced families, regional police Colonel Nemaa al-Jabouri told Reuters. One policeman in an accompanying patrol car was also killed.

Pictures published on social media by a group linked to Iraq`s defence ministry showed several blackened corpses next to the twisted metal remains of the truck.

Reuters

First Published: Saturday, November 5, 2016 - 13:26

 

[Hindustani78]

Iraqi soldiers take a selfie during a fighting with Islamic State fighters near the front line in the Shahrazad district of eastern Mosul, Iraq November 4, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

A tank of Iraqi security forces is seen during a battle with Islamic State militants in Ali Rash, southeast of Mosul, Iraq November 5, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudaini

Iraqi security forces are seen during a battle with Islamic State militants in Ali Rash, southeast of Mosul, Iraq November 5, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudaini

A boy, who just fled the Samah district of eastern Mosul, stands with the Special Forces holding men's identification cards, as they conduct interrogations to ensure the displaced do not belong to the Islamic State group, at the Iraqi Special Forces checkpoint in Kokjali, east of Mosul, Iraq November 5, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

 

[f1000n]

Tareq Al Hashimi (IS supporter hosted by Erdogan) said that the PMF are Iranian agents, a month later he said IS are Iranian agents. So Iran is fighting Iran.

 

[f1000n]

https://twitter.com/x/status/794987431044988928

Seems like CTS/ISOF is moving too fast in Eastern Mosul, there's talk they should slow down the assault and consolidate gains as IS have attacked them from the back a few days ago using tunnels. The federal police is catching up south from Mosul and the PMF is on the east, they have yet to attack Mosul from the south, east or north, that would help ease down IS's focus on the east front.

 

[Serpentine]

Mosul op is going according to plan, even better. Massive areas and dozens of towns/villages around Mosul have been liberated. t's about time until Iraq forces reach Mosul from south/west.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world...s-storm-iraqs-salahudin-province_1946829.html
Last Updated: Sunday, November 6, 2016 - 14:50

Tikrit: A total of 39 persons were killed and some 40 wounded on Sunday in two bombings and gunfire attacks in Iraqi province of Salahudin, officials here said.

A barrel filled with explosives detonated near a bridge on early Sunday in provincial capital city of Tikrit in Shishin area, some 170 km from Baghdad, killing 13 persons and injuring 30 others, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

In another incident, an explosive-laden car went off at a parking lot in Iraq`s Samarra city, 120 km from Baghdad, leaving 10 persons killed and 10 others injured, an official said.

The blast set fire to several nearby cars and caused damages to many others at the scene, the source added.

Early in the day, gunmen, believed to be affiliated to Islamic State (IS) militant group, broke into the house of a tribal leader in Tulul al-Baj area, some 50 km north of Tikrit, and opened fire in the house and killed 16 persons, the source said.

Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 1,792 Iraqis and injured 1,358 others in October across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the US, which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.

IANS

First Published: Sunday, November 6, 2016 - 14:50

 

[50cent]

Iranian controlled females Kurdish Isis hunters in action.pKk bastards needs to learn from these girls stop their terrorist activities and focus a against Isis

 

[terry5]

US special forces come to Mosul frontline

American Special Forces have been spotted on the frontline alongside Iraqi army and Kurdish militia, who are trying to drive out Islamic State terrorists out of their self-proclaimed capital, Mosul, various media outlets report.
“US special operators were at the front line on the edge of Mosul,” Stars and Stripes, an official newspaper of the US Army, said earlier this week. The American forces reportedly aided Iraqi elite troops who were preparing to enter the IS stronghold.

“The Americans wore black uniforms and drove black armored vehicles,” outside the village of Gogjali, the outlet reported. By wearing the same uniforms the US special troopers “blended” with Iraqi forces from the Washington trained Golden Division.

Some of the American special operators had “skull and crossed swords patches” while a sign on one of the helmets said “Hippie Killer.” According to Stars and Stripes, none of the US soldiers was allowed to speak to the media and also asked that no pictures of them be made. US military engineers wearing insignia of the 101st Airborne Division have been meanwhile spotted near the city Erbil, east of Mosul, the outlet added.

There have been more reports pouring in on the alleged US military engagement in the fight to retake Mosul from the Jihadists. Inside Syria Media Center, a website dedicated to news and opinion regarding the ongoing conflict in Syria, alleges that some 500 US elite troopers have been dispatched to Mosul, aided by Apache combat helicopters and Chinook transport.

Citing its sources in Iraq, the outlet claims that American special operators have been spotted at the forefront among Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, acting as “infantry soldiers.”

There is no official confirmation whether the US special forces are indeed conducting any combat activity at the frontline near or inside Mosul. However, on October 17, the very day when the operation started, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook admitted that US troops will take part in liberation of Mosul in a supportive role.

"There are Americans in harm's way as part of this fight. They're in a support role," Cook said. "It's fair to say there are Americans on the outskirts of the city," the official went on to say, not specifying the exact number of troops or their respective units. Cook went on to say that despite the role of US troops “they are behind the forward line of [Iraqi] troops" which are actually leading the fight.

According to CNN, citing a military source there are currently 100 US elite soldiers in Iraq. Yet on October 8, Debka files (an Israeli news outlet affiliated with the country’s intelligence), said that at least 600 “elite US troops” have been amassed in the Mosul region. It added that a total of 12,500 American servicemen were “assigned for the offensive”, presenting what the outlet called the largest US force in Iraq since 2007.
On Sunday, Iraq’s forces were scouring for terrorist hideouts and booby traps while clearing the eastern neighborhoods of Mosul, AP reports. Al Jazeera also said that Iraqi army entered residential areas in the north of the city for the first time. The offensive has slowed down over the past days as the Iraqi army and militia are reaching densely populated areas of the city.

“This is one of the hardest battles that we've faced till now,'' Lt. Col. Muhanad al-Timimi told AP. “Daesh [ISIS] dug trenches that they filled with water and they have a lot of suicide attackers and car bombs.''Terrorists are also using civilians as human shields in a bid to hamper the offensive.

Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, has a remaining population of some 1.3 million people and is under the control of Islamic State since 2014. Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops as well as various militias are taking part in the operation to retake the city, backed by a US-led international coalition.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the Washington-backed operation a “medieval slaughterhouse.”

"The counter-terrorist operation carried out by the major powers of the 21st century turned into a medieval slaughterhouse, which primarily affected the civilian population,” Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page. The official slammed the international coalition for not providing enough information on “what’s going on” in the city, including on the casualties.
In October, the UN warned that the military offensive against IS jihadists in Mosul could lead to up to 1 million people fleeing their homes.

Advisors or combatants?
According to the Washington Post’s estimates, the US currently maintains some 6,000 troops in Iraq, who are said to be mostly advisors helping to train the country’s army and police.

Yet speaking to RT, political commentator Marwa Osman said that despite labelling the personnel as “assistants,” those people are in Iraq to fight.

“Now there is a total of 6,000 US troops inside of Iraq, whether they [US officials] call it consultants or army personnel … they are there to fight,” Osman said.

She also noted that the news of US military doctors being on the ground in Iraq might also point at the risks of American forces getting injured in the fighting.

Expert on Middle East affairs Ali Rizk told RT that the diving line between the advisors and actual military combatants "is very blurry." And if indeed the US special forces are engaged on the frontlines, that's a sign of Washington trying to manage the situation in Mosul the best it can, Rizk said.

"Maybe there is an attempt by the Americans that this particular mission in Mosul goes ahead in accordance with their wishes."

Rizk also believes that with a broader military engagement in Mosul, Obama was "pushed" to effectively "score some points in Iraq against Daesh [ISIS]."

 

[mike2000 is back]

US special forces come to Mosul frontline

American Special Forces have been spotted on the frontline alongside Iraqi army and Kurdish militia, who are trying to drive out Islamic State terrorists out of their self-proclaimed capital, Mosul, various media outlets report.
“US special operators were at the front line on the edge of Mosul,” Stars and Stripes, an official newspaper of the US Army, said earlier this week. The American forces reportedly aided Iraqi elite troops who were preparing to enter the IS stronghold.

“The Americans wore black uniforms and drove black armored vehicles,” outside the village of Gogjali, the outlet reported. By wearing the same uniforms the US special troopers “blended” with Iraqi forces from the Washington trained Golden Division.

Some of the American special operators had “skull and crossed swords patches” while a sign on one of the helmets said “Hippie Killer.” According to Stars and Stripes, none of the US soldiers was allowed to speak to the media and also asked that no pictures of them be made. US military engineers wearing insignia of the 101st Airborne Division have been meanwhile spotted near the city Erbil, east of Mosul, the outlet added.

There have been more reports pouring in on the alleged US military engagement in the fight to retake Mosul from the Jihadists. Inside Syria Media Center, a website dedicated to news and opinion regarding the ongoing conflict in Syria, alleges that some 500 US elite troopers have been dispatched to Mosul, aided by Apache combat helicopters and Chinook transport.

Citing its sources in Iraq, the outlet claims that American special operators have been spotted at the forefront among Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, acting as “infantry soldiers.”

There is no official confirmation whether the US special forces are indeed conducting any combat activity at the frontline near or inside Mosul. However, on October 17, the very day when the operation started, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook admitted that US troops will take part in liberation of Mosul in a supportive role.

"There are Americans in harm's way as part of this fight. They're in a support role," Cook said. "It's fair to say there are Americans on the outskirts of the city," the official went on to say, not specifying the exact number of troops or their respective units. Cook went on to say that despite the role of US troops “they are behind the forward line of [Iraqi] troops" which are actually leading the fight.

According to CNN, citing a military source there are currently 100 US elite soldiers in Iraq. Yet on October 8, Debka files (an Israeli news outlet affiliated with the country’s intelligence), said that at least 600 “elite US troops” have been amassed in the Mosul region. It added that a total of 12,500 American servicemen were “assigned for the offensive”, presenting what the outlet called the largest US force in Iraq since 2007.
On Sunday, Iraq’s forces were scouring for terrorist hideouts and booby traps while clearing the eastern neighborhoods of Mosul, AP reports. Al Jazeera also said that Iraqi army entered residential areas in the north of the city for the first time. The offensive has slowed down over the past days as the Iraqi army and militia are reaching densely populated areas of the city.

“This is one of the hardest battles that we've faced till now,'' Lt. Col. Muhanad al-Timimi told AP. “Daesh [ISIS] dug trenches that they filled with water and they have a lot of suicide attackers and car bombs.''Terrorists are also using civilians as human shields in a bid to hamper the offensive.

Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, has a remaining population of some 1.3 million people and is under the control of Islamic State since 2014. Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops as well as various militias are taking part in the operation to retake the city, backed by a US-led international coalition.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the Washington-backed operation a “medieval slaughterhouse.”

"The counter-terrorist operation carried out by the major powers of the 21st century turned into a medieval slaughterhouse, which primarily affected the civilian population,” Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page. The official slammed the international coalition for not providing enough information on “what’s going on” in the city, including on the casualties.
In October, the UN warned that the military offensive against IS jihadists in Mosul could lead to up to 1 million people fleeing their homes.

Advisors or combatants?
According to the Washington Post’s estimates, the US currently maintains some 6,000 troops in Iraq, who are said to be mostly advisors helping to train the country’s army and police.

Yet speaking to RT, political commentator Marwa Osman said that despite labelling the personnel as “assistants,” those people are in Iraq to fight.

“Now there is a total of 6,000 US troops inside of Iraq, whether they [US officials] call it consultants or army personnel … they are there to fight,” Osman said.

She also noted that the news of US military doctors being on the ground in Iraq might also point at the risks of American forces getting injured in the fighting.

Expert on Middle East affairs Ali Rizk told RT that the diving line between the advisors and actual military combatants "is very blurry." And if indeed the US special forces are engaged on the frontlines, that's a sign of Washington trying to manage the situation in Mosul the best it can, Rizk said.

"Maybe there is an attempt by the Americans that this particular mission in Mosul goes ahead in accordance with their wishes."

Rizk also believes that with a broader military engagement in Mosul, Obama was "pushed" to effectively "score some points in Iraq against Daesh [ISIS]."

Propaganda. U.S, and British special forces/airforce are there to support ISIS.

 

[Alshawi1234]

Unfortunate ambush against ICTF inside mosul. Advanced too quick from one street and were hit by multiple VBIED's. Resulted in immobilizing several armored vehicles, 12 martyrs and 20 injured.

Iraqi forces retreated from some areas, focusing on securing liberated areas before advancing.

Hamam Aleel is fully liberated, area being cleared from IED's. Forces prepare to charge to the southern outskirts of kosul.

-------

PMF to start phase 2 of the Tel Afar operations. First goal is to lay seige and storm the Tel Afar air base.

Al Abbas brigade (PMF) has send a batch of 3000 Turkmen fighters amongst it's ranks to take part in the Tel Afar.

Quick glimpse of the population in Tel Afar. It's 90% Turkmen. With the shias consisting of about 60%. Before the rise of IS, the kurds and sunni politicians veto's the arming of the shia Turkmen.

Majority of its sunni Turkmen population are IS supporters. The IS of Tel Afar had he largest role in the Nineveh take over.


When IS took over mosul and started expanding. Many of the sunni population starting turning against their shia neighbours. Essentially threatening them to give up their valuables and leave even before IS took over the city. Later the city was split into shia and Sunni areas, shias fought back but with peshmerga refusing to use offer a supply line and being outnumbered, they were forced to retreat.

Dozens of shia children were kidnapped, put in camps to brainwash them and turn them into killers and suicide bombers.

Shia women were raped and then killed or burnt. All captured shia men were executed.

Hundreds of yazidi slaves were kept in tel afar as well

This battle will be for liberation and revenge. All those who supported IS will regret it.

 

[Madali]

View attachment 349830 trying to be Smart ***

What the **** is with extremist jihadists that love to dress up as women to escape? Why does it happen so much in every conflict? In Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in Syria, in Libya, etc.

 

[terry5]

What's it problem with Iran there are no gays in Iran death penalty for gay in.iran while in our country Pakistan there is no shortage of gay population freely living.

hi you edited your post

in Pakistan it is not open nor do they live freely
wonder why you've just lied about my country ?
i dont know which Pakistan your from

these Pakistanis should try get Iranian citizenship and live openly as husband and wife as its legal for boy to become girl and get married under religious law .

even can represent country in womans football world cup

 

[Alshawi1234]

More good news today.

peshmerga storm Bashiqa town centre and liberate it. This is the last point for the peshmerga. They will not participate in any other battles for now at least.

Federal police advance south of mosul. Currently 5km from Mosul airport.

 

[Hindustani78]

By Michael Georgy | BASHIQA, Iraq

Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces stormed an Islamic State-held town northeast of Mosul on Monday, clearing a pocket of militants outside the city while Iraqi troops wage a fierce urban war with the jihadists in its eastern neighborhoods.

As the operation against Islamic State's Iraqi stronghold entered its fourth week, fighters across the border launched an offensive in the Syrian half of the jihadist group's self-declared caliphate, targeting its base in the city of Raqqa.

An alliance of U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab groups launched the campaign for Raqqa, where Islamic State has been dug in for nearly three years, with an assault on territory about 50 km (30 miles) to the north which they have dubbed Euphrates Anger.

The battle for Raqqa will be every bit as challenging as the one for Mosul, with both cities carrying huge strategic and symbolic value to the jihadists and their self-declared caliphate covering territory in both Syria and Iraq.

The Iraqi operation, involving a 100,000-strong alliance of troops, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga and Shi'ite militias, backed by U.S.-led air strikes and a global consensus against the jihadis, has so far gained just a small foothold in Mosul.

The Raqqa campaign, launched amid a complex civil war in Syria which has divided world powers, is not coordinated with President Bashar al-Assad or the Syrian army. The Kurdish element of SDF groups fighting toward Raqqa also makes them an unlikely force to recapture the Arab city.

"It is difficult to put a time frame on the operation at present. The battle will not be easy," a Syrian Kurdish source said.


BATTLE FOR BASHIQA

In Bashiqa, some 15 km (10 miles) from Mosul, a 2,000-strong peshmerga force sought to drive out the militants from the town, which lies on the Nineveh plains at the foot of a mountain.

Artillery pounded the town before the Kurdish peshmerga and U.S. special forces entered the town in armored vehicles, Humvees and on foot.

"Our aim is to take control and clear out all the Daesh (Islamic State) militants," Lieutenant-Colonel Safeen Rasoul told Reuters as the operation began. "Our estimates are there are about 100 still left and 10 suicide cars."


Islamic State fighters have sought to slow the offensive on their Mosul stronghold with waves of suicide car bomb attacks. Iraqi commanders say there have been 100 on the eastern front and 140 in the south.

A top Kurdish official told Reuters on Sunday the jihadists had also deployed drones strapped with explosives, long-range artillery shells filled with chlorine gas and mustard gas, and snipers.

As a peshmerga column moved into Bashiqa on Monday, a loud explosion rocked the convoy, and two large plumes of white smoke could be seen just 50 feet (15 meters) away. A peshmerga officer said two suicide car bombs had tried to hit the advancing force.

"They are surrounded... If they want to surrender, OK. If they don't, they will be killed," said Lieutenant-Colonel Qandeel Mahmoud, standing next to a Humvee, supported by a cane he said he has needed since he was wounded in the leg by two suicide car bombers four months ago.

Armed U.S. soldiers, part of a 5,000-strong force Washington says is advising and supporting the Iraqi offensive, were accompanying the peshmerga in Bashiqa through streets lined by rows of damaged houses, some with entire floors collapsed.

Fighting was intense and at one stage a convoy of 40 vehicles was held up by a single Islamic State sniper.

Kurdish military authorities later said the peshmerga were carrying out house-to-house searches in the town.

In eastern districts of Mosul, which Iraqi special forces broke into last week, officers say jihadists melted into the population, ambushing and isolating troops in what the special forces spokesman called the world's "toughest urban warfare".

TWIN OFFENSIVES

Mosul, the largest Islamic State-controlled city in either Iraq or Syria, has been held by the group since its fighters drove the army out of northern Iraq in June 2014. The campaign to retake it is the most complex military operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.

Twin offensives on Raqqa and Mosul could bring to an end the caliphate declared by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from the pulpit of a Mosul mosque in 2014.

Baghdadi, whose whereabouts are unknown but who is believed to be in northern Iraq close to the Syrian border, has told his followers not to retreat in the "total war" with their enemies.


They have lost ground on all fronts, however, despite waging a fierce and brutal defense.

One Mosul resident told Reuters by phone he had seen 30 bodies and about 40 seriously wounded people brought into Salam Hospital, used by Islamic State to treat its casualties.

Elsewhere in the city, three residents said the Islamic State presence across Mosul was far less visible than in recent days, but cautioned that the militants had dropped out of view before and then reappeared en masse.

Others said there were signs that some of Islamic State's local supporters had fled, including one family whose son joined the jihadists when they took over Mosul. The family fled without warning, and two days later Islamic State put up signs on their empty house which read: Property of Islamic State.

Some were frustrated and frightened by what they said was the slow army advance. "We're asking ourselves what's happening? We were expecting the Iraqi forces to reach us much quicker," he said.

To the south of Mosul, security forces said they had recaptured and secured the town of Hammam al-Alil from Islamic State fighters, who they said had kept thousands of residents as human shields as well as marching many others alongside retreating militants toward Mosul as cover from air strikes.

The United Nations has warned of a possible exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees from a city which is still home to up to 1.5 million people. So far 34,000 have been displaced, the International Organization for Migration said.

Security forces on the southern front have continued their advance, reaching within 4 km (2-1/2 miles) of Mosul's airport, on the southern edge of the city and on the western bank of the Tigris River which runs through its center.

To the north, a military statement said the army's Sixteenth Infantry Division had also recaptured the village of Bawiza and entered another area, Sada, on the city's northern limits, further tightening the circle of forces around Islamic State.

Shi'ite militias known as Popular Mobilisation forces are also fighting to the west of Mosul to seal the routes to the Islamic State-held town of Tal Afar and its territory in neighboring Syria, to prevent any retreat or reinforcement.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Anna Willard and Angus MacSwan)



Smoke rises during clashes between Peshmerga forces and Islamic State militants in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

An Iraqi air force helicopter fires missiles at Islamic State militants in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq November 6, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Military vehicles of Peshmerga forces drive towards the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari