Battle For The Iraqi City Of Mosul -- News Updates March 19, 2017

Reuters: Iraqi forces close on Mosul mosque as strike kills foreign militants

Iraqi army helicopters strafed and rocketed Islamic State positions inside Mosul's Old City on Sunday as ground troops fought fierce street battles to close in on the strategic prize of the al-Nuri Mosque.

An air strike by the U.S.-led coalition backing Iraq forces in their campaign to retake Mosul also killed six foreign militant commanders in the west, including a Russian who was a senior Islamic State leader, Iraq's defense ministry said.

Federal Police troops on Sunday advanced past the train station in western Mosul close to the mosque, where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in July 2014 after the hardline militants had seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Read more ....

Battle For The Iraqi City Of Mosul -- News Updates March 19, 2017

Iraqi troops push into area around symbolic Mosul mosque -- AP
Focus on al-Nuri Mosque as residents flee Mosul -- Al Jazeera
Iraqi Forces in Mosul Close in on Key IS Mosque -- VOA
Fierce fighting on outskirts of Mosul Old City -- AFP
Six foreign ISIS leaders killed in coalition airstrike on Mosul -- RUDAW
Watch a US-led airstrike destroy part of ISIS' arsenal in the terror group's shrinking Iraqi stronghold -- Business Insider
U.S. base rises from the rubble for Mosul push -- Reuters
US fighters in Mosul focusing on avoiding civilian deaths -- The Hill
High level of destruction in west Mosul as Iraqi forces make gains -- RUDAW
In Mosul, Iraqi Troops Engage in Tense House-To-House Searches (Video) -- RFE
Bad weather slows the advance of Iraqi forces in western Mosul -- Euronews
Iraqi Forces Push Forward In Mosul As Residents Flee Fierce Fighting -- RFE
As Mosul battle escalates, civilians caught in crossfire -- Reuters
The fight for normality: Mosul residents live their lives amid ruined buildings as armoured vehicles drive through walls and Iraqi forces push ISIS out of the city -- Daily Mail
Fear, hunger, destruction loom large in Mosul, yet people willing to fight -- Khaleej Times
ISIL after Mosul: Insurgency and rivalry -- Alia Brahimi, Al Jazeera