Iraq gains ground in Old City

Special forces have recaptured more of Mosul's historic heart as they press the final stages of an assault to drive the Islamic State group from Iraq's second city, the military said yesterday.

More than eight months since the country's forces launched a gruelling operation to retake Mosul, IS has gone from fully controlling the city to holding a few neighbourhoods on its western side.

Counter-terrorism forces liberated the Makawi area of the Old City, the joint operations command announced yesterday, in a further blow at the heart of the jihadists' cross-border "caliphate".

Smoke billows next to the remains of al-Hadba minaret at ruined Grand al-Nuri Mosque. Photo: Reuters, AFP

Iraqi forces have been closing in on the Old City for months, but its narrow streets and closely spaced buildings combined with a large civilian population made for an extremely difficult fight.

Security forces recaptured a series of nearby districts, cornering the jihadists, before launching an assault inside the Old City on June 18. They have since made significant progress.

On Saturday, officers announced the recapture of a hospital and its surroundings north of the Old City, removing a nearby but unconnected pocket of IS resistance.

A man carries two children in his arms while fleeing from the Old City of Mosul. Photo: Reuters, AFP

Federal police chief Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat said the area around the hospital, Al-Shifaa, had been completely retaken, limiting IS's presence in Mosul to the Old City.

On Thursday, Iraqi forces retook the remains of the Grand Mosque of al-Nuri in their greatest symbolic victory since the battle began.