Iraqi special forces cleared buildings on Saturday in neighborhoods they entered in eastern Mosul a day earlier, after pushing out Islamic State militants in their drive to take back the city.
(FOX)- Fighting continued in the morning, with both sides firing mortars and automatic weapons on each other’s positions, while the Iraqi troops also responded with artillery. Clashes were most intense in the al-Bakr neighborhood. Sniper duels played out from rooftops in the mostly residential areas, where the majority of buildings are two stories high.
“Daesh is in the city center and we must be very careful as our forces advance,” said Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces, using the Arabic acronym for the ISIS group. With more densely packed neighborhoods ahead, his forces will be challenged to avoid both higher military and civilian casualties.
As he spoke, dozens of civilians in the Tahrir and Zahara districts emerged from their homes, some of them carrying white flags, and headed toward the troops to be evacuated from the battlefield.
The special forces launched a two-pronged assault deeper into Mosul’s urban center on Friday, unleashing the most intense street battles against ISIS militants since the offensive to retake the city began nearly three weeks ago. At least seven special forces troops have been killed in the fighting.
More than 3,000 Iraqi troops took part in the assault under heavy U.S.-led coalition air support, but the pace of the fight also slowed as Iraqi forces moved from fighting in more rural areas with few civilians to the tight, narrow streets of Mosul proper. At least seven suicide attackers in explosives-laden vehicles attacked troops on Friday, five of whom were killed before nearing their targets.