Iraq says army makes gains in gruelling Mosul battle
The Iraqi army said it took full control of two more districts of east Mosul on Saturday, pushing back ISIS militants in a slow and hard-fought advance into the city whose 1 million residents face growing shortages of fuel, water and food. A military statement said elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) troops took over the neighbourhoods of al-Murour and al-Qadisiya al-Oula, expanding their area of control in the east of the city.
Despite the reported advance, the army's progress in Mosul remains painstakingly slow, facing brutal counter attacks from the hugely outnumbered but well prepared and heavily armed jihadists who have controlled the city since mid-2104.
In an attempt to change the dynamics of the grinding seven-week campaign, troops from an armoured division punched their way deeper into the city on Tuesday in an attack on a hospital believed to be used as a military base by ISIS. They were forced to withdraw from the complex after a ferocious counter-attack by Islamic State fighters, who deployed at least six suicide car bombs, although residents said the army was able to hold some territory nearby.
