Coalition: Months until Mosul battles finalized

Colonel John Dorian, the spokesperson of the US-led coalition said they need weeks or months to finalize battles in Mosul.

“Operations are going as planned. Iraqi troops continue to advance and they are heading east. They are restoring control over several neighborhoods despite ISIS' use of barbaric techniques such as targeting civilians. This is a cowardly tactic but it will not prevent Iraqi forces from progressing,” he said.

Dorian added that Iraqi troops had resumed the advance against ISIS and destroyed many booby-trapped cars and killed hundreds of extremists.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Shokr al-Naimi said Iraqi forces infiltrated the defenses of ISIS in the neighborhoods of al-Sokar and al-Taameem in north and east Mosul.

Naimi also said Iraqi troops are fighting fierce battles in both neighborhoods, adding that it was not clear what the losses were at this point.

He added that counter-terrorism forces have so far gained control over half of the area of the east front of Mosul while Iraqi troops resume advancing in the southern axis.

*This article can be viewed in Arabic on AlArabiya.net