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."