Iraqi troops advanced against Islamic State fighters toward the center of Mosul on Sunday, but were slowed down by sniper fire and suicide bombings as well as concern over the safety of civilians in a city that is home to more than 1 million people.
(FOX)- A few hundred civilians emerged from rubble-strewn front-line neighborhoods in search of safer ground, including women and children, some of them carrying bags or small suitcases.
Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi told The Associated Press that his special forces were searching homes in areas retaken from IS, looking for militants and vehicles rigged with explosives. Troops in those areas continue to be hit by mortar and sniper fire, he said.
Another Iraqi army commander, Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil, said four civilians were killed and another four wounded when a suicide car bomb exploded before it could reach the troops it was targeting late Saturday.
The troops laid siege Sunday to the Al-Zohour neighborhood, about eight kilometers (five miles) from the city center. The arrival of the troops at the neighborhood’s fringes prompted hundreds of civilians to emerge from their homes waving white flags.
“The biggest hindrance to us is the civilians, whose presence is slowing us down,” al-Aridi said. “We are soldiers who are not trained to carry out humanitarian tasks.”
The Iraqi military began the campaign one month ago to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the extremist group’s last major urban bastion in the country. Most gains have been made by the special forces operating in the section of Mosul east of the Tigris river. Other forces are advancing on the city from different directions, and the U.S.-led coalition is providing airstrikes and other support.
(Photo credit: The Associated Press via Fox News)