Islamic State, government troops clash near Mosul

Their advance will likely grind on for some time as they contend with IS tactics that have included riddling the city with booby-traps, setting off suicide auto bombs, stationing snipers on rooftops and using civilians as human shields.

Earlier, the US-led multinational coalition supporting the offensive bombed another of the bridges over the River Tigris that link eastern and western Mosul.

Iraqi security forces have recaptured six villages in southeast and north of the city of Mosul, while Special Forces continued heavy clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants in the eastern part of the city.

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) rejected claims that Iran has dispatched its forces to neighboring Iraq to take part in a massive operation to liberate Mosul from ISIS terrorists.

According to the United Nations, almost 60,000 people have been displaced since the offensive to retake Mosul was launched on October 17.

Army officers showed journalists several drones looking like model aircraft which they said the group had built to scout out targets or launch attacks. He said their progress was hampered by IS suicide vehicle bombs, several of which were targeted by coalition aircraft before they reached their intended targets.

Mortar rounds, artillery and gunfire rang out throughout the day, punctuated by occasional booms from airstrikes that sent plumes of smoke into the air.

The exodus is worrying humanitarian organizations as some of the civilians are heading into insurgent territory, where aid can not be sent to them, provincial officials said on Wednesday.

The experts believe IS moved the materials and its chemical weapons specialists out of Mosul ahead of the Iraqi offensive, but may still use crude chemical weapons like chlorine and mustard agents as the troops press deeper into the city. With the battle so close, and the effect on ordinary people of military tactics like taking out bridges, some residents have chose to leave the city. One family arrived on a donkey-drawn cart. Dozens more tried to reach the aid station but were held back by troops, who said they had intelligence that ISIL was sending suicide bombers disguised as civilians.

Efforts from the army have slowed down due to the one million civilians in the city being used as shields.

The U.N. says at least 68,000 people have fled the fighting in Mosul, including 8,300 over the past four days.

Iraqi Shia militias fighting under the banner of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) have shelled the town of Tel Afar that has led to the deaths of civilians, with the PMF abducting entire families of survivors fleeing the violence, Al Jazeera has reported.

The majority of the displaced – 59,200 – came from districts outside the city.