Iraqi army encircles IS in Mosul

ERBIL, Iraq: Iraq’s army said it encircled Islamic State’s stronghold in the Old City of Mosul on Tuesday after taking over an area to the north of the territory.

The army’s 9’th armoured division seized al-Shifaa district alongside the western bank of the Tigris river, a military statement said.

The fall of Shifaa means the Old City in the eastern half of Mosul is now surrounded by US-backed government forces, deployed north, west, south and across the river.

Sheltering from relentless fire and explosions near a sniper position on the edge of the Old City, CTS captain Ahmed Jassem described a bitter fight. "We can’t bring our vehicles into these narrow streets. It means they can’t use as many car bombs either, but they use motorcycle bombs and even IEDs mounted on remote-controlled toy cars," he said.

Iraqi forces stationed Humvees by the Grand Mosque on the retaken east side of Mosul, facing the Old City and mounted with speakers.

The loudspeakers blared messages to IS fighters, telling them: "You have only this choice: surrender or die".

Late on Sunday, Iraqi forces dropped nearly 500,000 leaflets over the city, warning that they had "started attacking from all directions". The leaflets urge civilians to "stay away from open places and... exploit any opportunity that arises during the fighting" to escape.

The United Nations has said IS may be holding more than 100,000 civilians as human shields in the Old City.

On Monday, the French national broadcaster France Televisions and Reporters Without Borders said three French journalists were wounded in a landmine blast in Mosul and their Iraqi fixer Bakhtiyar Addad killed.

On Tuesday, the broadcaster announced that one of the reporters, Stephan Villeneuve, had died from his injuries.

He had been preparing a documentary on the battle for Mosul for public channel France 2. Only a few hundred yards (metres) from the heaviest fighting, small groups of civilians gathered.

"We moved to a camp in Hammam al-Alil when the neighbourhood was liberated, but homes were being looted so we came back to protect our property," said Nabil Hamed Khattab, a 56-year old who did not flinch when a mortar round came crashing down a few blocks away.

Commanders have said the fighting is expected to be very difficult and could last weeks.

Surrounded by Iraqi forces on three sides and blocked on the other by the Tigris that runs through Mosul, the jihadists are cornered.