Battle For The Iraqi City Of Mosul -- News Updates June 8, 2017

A sniper fired at a group of fleeing civilians in west Mosul, Iraq. Credit Ivor Prickett for The New York Times

New York Times: Live From Mosul: A Photographer’s Perspective

One way to photograph the battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State is to embed with Iraqi forces there. And so, with a driver, fixer and security adviser, I headed to west Mosul, where the four of us spent nearly three weeks with a troop of Iraq’s counterterrorism special forces.

We started in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, which is about two and a half hours from Mosul. You need a four-by-four vehicle to traverse the unpaved roads that lead to Mosul. We packed ours with provisions — body armor, helmets, chemical protection suits, sleeping bags — we thought we would need to sustain ourselves for up to 10 days in the field. We also brought plenty of food — most of which went uneaten. Iraqi hospitality demands that hosts feed their guests, even those at the front line in Mosul.

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Battle For The Iraqi City Of Mosul -- News Updates June 8, 2017

Iraqi Forces Close In on Militants in Mosul -- WSJ
Eleven Iraqi soldiers killed in a booby-trapped house blast in western Mosul -- Iraqi News
Mobilization leader says border areas west of Mosul to be IS-free in 2 days -- Iraqi News
Iraq: warnings of 'bloodbath' in battle for west Mosul -- Amnesty IOnternational
'Significant escalation' of civilian deaths in Mosul -- Al Jazeera
UN reports fresh IS killings, air strike deaths in Mosul -- AFP
UN: Islamic State Killed 231 Civilians Trying to Flee Mosul -- VOA
ivilians share harrowing tales of survival from Mosul -- CTV/AP
Weapons choice in anti-IS war endangers civilians: rights groups -- AFP
Islamic State Jails Hidden Among Ordinary Villas in Mosul -- US News and World Report/Reuters
Mosul battle a 'deadly game of cat and mouse' with Islamic State -- SKY News