Battle For The Iraqi City of Mosul -- News Updates March 18, 2017

Reuters: Thousands flee Iraq's Mosul as battle edges into Old City

Thousands of Iraqis surged out of western Mosul on Saturday during a lull in heavy fighting in districts around the densely populated Old City where Iraqi forces are facing fierce resistance from Islamic State militants.

Five months into the battle to take Islamic State's last bastion in Iraq, government forces have cleared the east and half of western Mosul, and are now focused on controlling the Old City as well as the strategic al-Nuri Mosque.

As fighting has entered into the narrow alleyways and densely populated parts of the west, more residents are fleeing liberated areas where food and water are scarce, security fragile and where homes are often caught in shelling.

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Battle For The Iraqi City of Mosul -- News Updates March 18, 2017

Iraqi Forces Advance Into Mosul's Old City -- RFE
Iraq forces say near Mosul mosque where IS declared 'caliphate' -- AFP
Iraqi forces edge into Mosul's Old City, Nuri mosque in sight -- Reuters
Iraqi forces retake two key areas in west Mosul -- Al Jazeera
Need to avoid civilian deaths weighs on minds of U.S. forces in Mosul battle -- Reuters
Security forces discover IS prison in central Mosul -- Iraqi News
Army: Civilians caught in crossfire slow down troops in Mosul -- RUDAW
ISIS has been using Kia vehicles as their weapon of choice in Mosul -- Business Insider
How the Iraqi Army have battled car bombs, drones and mortars to reclaim Mosul -- Sydney Morning Herald
Islamic State uses improvised weapons of war in Mosul, Iraq -- Long War Journal
Fleeing Islamic State, Mosul's civilians cart out the living and the dead -- Reuters
Mosul residents flee the city with dead bodies of loved ones -- RUDAW
Fear, Hunger and Destruction in Mosul Old City as IS Under Pressure -- Reuters
The battle for western Mosul -- Al Jazeera
What is left of Mosul: 'We don't belong here anymore' -- Ben Wedeman, CNN