Iraq forces gain ground, deploy snipers in Mosul
Iraqi forces have launched a major operation to recapture west Mosul.
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi forces gained ground from the Daesh group in Mosul and have deployed snipers in the Old City to target the militants, officers said on Tuesday.
Iraqi forces launched a major operation to recapture west Mosul -- the most-populated urban area still held by Daesh -- on February 19, and have retaken a series of neighbourhoods from the militants.
Iraqi interior ministry forces are now battling Daesh in the Old City, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to reside, while the Counter-Terrorism Service is fighting to reclaim areas further west.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command announced on Tuesday that CTS forces had recaptured the Al-Risala and Shaqaq Nablus areas of west Mosul.
In the Old City, "dozens of snipers" have been deployed atop buildings to target the militants as Iraqi forces seek to advance toward the Al-Nuri mosque.
The mosque is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only known public appearance, calling on Muslims to "obey" him.
The battle for west Mosul has pushed more than 180,000 people to flee their homes, according to the Iraqi government.
Some 111,000 have sought shelter in nearby camps and reception centres while many others have stayed with relatives, the ministry of displacement and migration said.
Daesh overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and other support have since regained much of the territory they lost.
Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul in October, recapturing its eastern side before setting their sights on its smaller but more-densely populated west.
