Fierce fighting in Mosul: Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, civilians flee to safety

Heavy fighting broke out in Mosul’s eastern Tahrir neighborhood on Wednesday, where Iraqi special forces said a suicide car bomber from the Islamic State group disabled an Abrams tank belonging to the Iraqi army.

Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes but under fire from heavy weapons, the troops drove deeper into the neighborhood as families fled their homes. IS-fired mortar rounds killed a child and wounded five others, according to Rudaw TV, which ran footage of their evacuation by Iraqi troops.

Iraqi forces launched a long-awaited operation to retake the country’s second largest city nearly a month ago, but have only advanced into a few eastern districts. They have faced fierce resistance, with snipers, mortar fire and waves of suicide attackers driving armor-plated vehicles packed with explosives.

Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil says the special forces now control 70 percent of the Tahrir district, where most residents are sheltering indoors. The army is trying to evacuate them as it battles street by street. Mosul is still home to more than 1 million civilians.

“Our forces have killed dozens of Daesh fighters, and we’re advancing carefully because of the civilians, who we’re evacuating,” Fadhil said, using the Arabic acronym for the extremist group. (AP)

Here’s a look from Mosul this past week.

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