IS shows no sign of weakening

Islamic State fighters have stepped up counterattacks on Iraqi forces in Mosul amid bad weather as the US-backed offensive to capture their last major city stronghold in Iraq enters its third month.

With cloudy skies hampering coalition air surveillance, the militants carried out attacks in three districts of eastern Mosul, al-Quds, Ta'mim and al-Nur, over the past four days, residents and security officials said yesterday.

"We heard clashes and explosions and then somebody shouting on the loudspeaker of the mosque 'Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, the Islamic State is staying'," said a Ta'mim resident.

The campaign that started on Oct 17 has turned into the biggest battle in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The humanitarian situation of the besieged population is causing alarm amid reports of food, water and fuel shortages, while the fighting is making access to hospitals difficult.

Nearly 100,000 people have fled the city, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish fighters and Iranian-backed Shia volunteers are taking part in the offensive. The latter are attacking the militants supply lines in a remote and semi-desert area west of Mosul to avoid fanning sectarian tensions with the city's Sunni population.

The Iraqi military estimate the number of militants in the city at 5,000 to 6,000. They are dug in amid the city's remaining population of about one million, moving through tunnels and using suicide car bombs, sharpshooters and mortar fire to slow the advance of the Iraqi forces.

The fall of Mosul would mark the defeat of the ultra-hardline Sunni group in the Iraqi half of the caliphate that also extends over parts of Syria.

At the current pace of advance, the offensive is likely to extend into next year, beyond the initial forecast of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who pledged to take the city in 2016.