Iraqi offensive resumes to retake Mosul from Islamic State, prime minister says

It is a strategy that has been endorsed by some, including Mr Hazem Ghanam, a 58-year-old resident who was in east Mosul during the battle.

Leaflets warning residents of an imminent offensive were earlier dropped over the west of the city.

The operation to retake Mosul, formerly ISIS’ most important stronghold, began in mid-October.

Meanwhile, commanders have noted that military vehicles will be unable to pass through numerous narrow, winding streets, according to Reuters.

The jihadists overran Mosul and swathes of other territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, sweeping aside security forces ill-prepared to face the assault.

However, ISIS have suffered high levels of casualties, and Iraqi commanders hope they no longer have the resources to defend Mosul effectively.

In addition to killing militants and retaking 10 villages, Iraqi Federal Police forces said they destroyed 13 booby trapped vehicles and dismantled 30 explosive devices. Stocks of food, fuel, drinking water and other vital supplies are running low in the western section, since the road connecting Mosul to Syria was severed three months ago.

In the east, the Iraqi forces adopted a strategy of protecting civilians by keeping them at home, and the mass exodus expected by humanitarian organisations did not occur. Her kids sometimes went to bed without even that.

November 13: Iraq says it has recaptured Nimrud, an ancient city southeast of Mosul.

Around 750,000 people still remain in western Mosul, according to United Nations estimates. Aid agencies have no access and all the commercial arteries have been blocked.

Iraqi forces had initially planned to advance on the city from the east and south simultaneously, but as they became bogged down in eastern Mosul, the southern front was put on hold.

“Our fearless forces will embark on liberating the rest of this city and free its citizens from oppression and terrorism of Daesh”, he added, using an Arabic acronym of Islamic State.

He survived by doing odd jobs and sometimes getting some money from an uncle who was still receiving his pension.

“They will try to cause as many losses as possible, because they know they will die anyway”, his colleague Alaa said. A 50 kilogram (110 pound) sack of rice rose to 120,000 dinars ($95), from 19,000 ($15).

The UN said in late January that nearly half of all the casualties in Mosul were civilians.