LIVE BLOG: The battle for Mosul

The Shia-dominated Iraqi militia groups known as the "Popular Mobilisation Units" have been repeatedly accused by human rights groups of carrying out atrocities against Sunnis in "revenge" for Islamic State attacks on Shia civilians. Their presence in the battle for Mosul has brought more warnings of similar reprisals.

Middle East Eye reporter Alex MacDonald talks to one PMU soldier: “We do not seek revenge but we want assurances that our people are going to exist tomorrow and not be attacked again by extremists that seek to make Mosul only Sunni.”

You can read the full story by clicking on the tweet below.

The International Organisation for Migration has said it is procuring gas masks in preparation for possible chemical weapons attacks by Islamic State fighters in Mosul, following attacks on Peshmerga fighters several weeks ago.

Separately, the International Committee for the Red Cross says it is seeking to establish contact with IS in the city to urge it to uphold the 'basic rules of war' and ensure humane treatment of civilians.

The UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq has repeatedly warned the battle for Mosul could spark a humanitarian catastrophe, with hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes or used as human shields, and has said a "worst case scenario" could involve the use of chemical weapons.

Footage has been posted on Twitter of the result of coalition attacks on IS positions in Mosul - the video also shows IS attempts to shield themselves with smoke from fires.

"On the road near to the village of Barzakat village, some 15km from Mosul, there stood a deserted bullet-riddled pick-up.

"On Tuesday morning, this IS vehicle was stopped here by peshmerga fighters, wielding automatic rifles. Eight members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) were riding in the pick-up: four of them were killed, then buried by the Kurds 100m from where they fell.

You can read the full story by MEE correspondent, Bostjan Videmsek, by clicking on the tweet below.

About half of some 3,000 Iraqi forces trained by Turkey at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq are taking part in the operation to drive Islamic State from the city of Mosul, Turkish military sources said on Monday.

Pictures published on social media site Twitter show IS forces preparing for street battles in Mosul

Reuters has released several images of the remnants of the village of Bartila, a village outside Mosul occupied by the Islamic State until it was taken by Iraqi forces this week.

Kurdish fighters have discovered a network of tunnels in the village. 

Bartila, or Bartella on Google maps, is about 20km from the city of Mosul.

A suicide driver detonated a car packed with explosives at a security check-point south of Baghdad on Monday, killing ten people and wounding 25, police and medical sources said.

The blast happened as a convoy of Shia paramilitary fighters drove past the check-point in Yusufiya, 15km south of the Iraqi capital, the sources said.

It caused casualties among police and army personnel manning the position, as well as Shia fighters and civilians, they said.

The bombing comes as Iraqi forces launched earlier today an offensive on Mosul, the last city that remains under control of Islamic State in Iraq.

The group intensified bomb attacks in government-held areas this year as it loses territory to US-backed Iraqi government forces and Shia militias.

The group claimed a truck bombing in July that killed at least 324 people in the Karrada shopping area of Baghdad - the deadliest single attack in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Reports on various websites on Tuesday suggested that the Kurdish peshmerga have dug in to positions around Mosul after taking several villages on the way to the city.

The Wall Street journal quotes a commander, Khathar Sheikhan, as saying his forces had "achieved our objectives... The Iraqi army will now advance past our arenas of control".

The WSJ however reported a denial by US forces of a "pause" in the operation, a day after it was launched. 

“There’s no pause in efforts to liberate Mosul. Troops are on the move on various axes of advance toward the city,” said John Dorrian, a US colonel and spokesman for the US-led coalition. “Some commanders have reached their objectives ahead of schedule after encountering light-to-moderate resistance.”

According to reports, Kurdish forces are not scheduled to mount a full assault on the city itself - rather, they are being used as a clearing and screening force to allow regular Iraqi government forces to advance.

Mosul Eye, a blog which reports from inside the city, describes the conditions since the start of the Iraqi offensive. It describes Islamic State presence as patchy, although strong in many places including a section of the city rich with a bomb-making factories, prison camps holding thousands of people - including Yazidi women enslaved by the group after the capture of Sinjar in 2014.

MEE has summarised the blog, but you can read the full post by clicking this link.

• Surveillance aircraft in sky at all hours.
• An uneasy quietness in the city. People are out for few hours and then disappear. Life in the city is over by 4pm.
• IS fighters do not appear much. Some areas are free of their presence: al-Wahda, al-Muthanna, and al-Sukar. They are more evident in Gogjali and Karama, despite leaving their main bases.
• Wadi Eqab industrial district is closed to Mosulis. IS has turned the district into a centre for bomb-making, and has been producing them in large numbers in recent days.
• IS prison camps filled with an estimated 2,000-2,500 prisoners, all of whom are men age between 18 and 25.
• IS still holds Yazidi female captives in al-Baath and al-Ziraai areas, and al-Sukar and al-Jamhouri hospitals.
• Humanitarian situation in the city is dire, with supplies only enough for a couple of weeks.
• IS has ordered power providers to stop supplying power from 10pm to noon the next day. 
• All roads and pavements are booby-trapped.
• IS militants executed 12 prisoners on Tuesday.
• Many residents are ready to flee at any moment the battles approach the city, with the biggest fear being caught in the crossfire.

IS has released two videos from inside the city in recent days. The first interviews residents about 'normal life' in the city and the second shows a group of fighters patrolling deserted streets. The leader of the group taunts the US, saying America will be defeated for a second time in Iraq.

Some of the comments in the video:

"Thanks and praise be to God, everything is fine here in Mosul. It's safe, thank God. All the satellite channels are nothing but lies, lies, lies."

"The situation in Mosul is extraordinary. It is normal and there is normal activity. Right now we are in the market and there is buying and selling. People are working and making money. These are the words of the infidels. They are using their satellite channels to broadcast these rumours."

Translations:

"God promised victory and promised hardships so we are patient and joyful. We promise the United States with what our leaders promised: God accept their souls."

"So I swear, I swear, I swear United States you will be defeated in Iraq. You will leave once more humiliated and disgusting in defeat as our leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi promised when he said that you will leave Iraq humiliated and disgusting."

Rudaw English has published on Twitter video of an intense firefight between IS militants and peshmerga forces outside Mosul.

This is the moment the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the battle for Mosul had begun. It's been many months in the offing.

Freelance reporter Fazel Hawramy, who is providing excellent updates from east of Mosul, reports Kurdish forces have captured a network of tunnels used by IS snipers in the Khazir area - the same area as the Rudaw video showing intense clashes between peshmerga and IS militants. Another video, which is available with a bit of a Twitter search, shows an IS fighter emerge from a tunnel surrounded by peshmerga before apparently detonating a suicide vest. MEE has chosen not to publish the video.