Up to 900 Daesh militants killed in Mosul battle, US says

ARBIL, Iraq: The United States said Thursday that up to 900 Daesh militants have been killed in the offensive to retake Iraq´s Mosul, as camps around the city filled with fleeing civilians.

Iraqis who fled their homes expressed joy at escaping Daesh´s brutal rule as they were given shelter and assistance, in some cases reuniting with relatives they had not seen in more than two years.

The offensive, launched on October 17, is seeing tens of thousands of Iraqi fighters advancing on Mosul from the south, east and north in a bid to retake the last major Iraqi city under Daesh control.

Backed with air and ground support from a US-led coalition, federal forces allied with Kurdish peshmerga fighters have taken a string of towns and villages in a cautious but steady advance.

General Joseph Votel, who heads the US military´s Central Command, told AFP on Thursday that the offensive was inflicting a heavy toll on the militants.

"Just in the operations over the last week and a half associated with Mosul, we estimate they´ve probably killed about 800-900 Daesh fighters," Votel said in an interview.

There are between 3,500 and 5,000 Daesh in Mosul and up to another 2,000 in the broader area, according to US estimates.

The offensive has so far been concentrated in towns and villages around Mosul, with Iraqi forces later expected to breach city limits and engage the militants in street-to-street fighting.