Toxic smoke hampers offensive to retake IS stronghold of Mosul
Concerns grow for the welfare of more than a million civilians trapped in the Iraqi city, amid deteriorating living standards.
Sunday 23 October 2016 13:54, UK
Intense fighting is continuing as coalition forces push closer to Islamic State's last major stronghold of Mosul.
Troops have retaken a Christian region, including the town of Bartella, as they edged toward Iraq's second biggest city.
Around 50 villages have been liberated since Monday, according to the Iraqi army.
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![Smoke rises at Islamic State militants' positions in the town of Nawaran, near Mosul]()
Image: Smoke rises near IS positions in Nawaran, close to Mosul. Around 50 villages have been liberated since the battle for Mosul began a week ago -
![Peshmerga forces prepare to launch a mortar against Islamic State militants in the town of Naweran near Mosul]()
Image: Kurdish Peshmerga forces are among the tens of thousands of troops battling IS fighters in the mission to retake Iraq's second-biggest city -
![Shia fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces arrive in an area south of Mosul]()
Image: Shia fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces are also involved in the fight to retake control of Mosul from the violent jihadist group -
![Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces arrive in an area south of Mosul]()
Image: The fighters are pushing towards Mosul from the south, as the Iraqi PM praises the offensive's progress -
![Peshmerga forces fire a mortar towards Islamic state militants' positions in the town of Naweran near Mosul]()
Image: Peshmerga forces fire a mortar towards Islamic State militants in the village of Nawaran near Mosul, which has been held by IS since June 2014 -
![A Kurdish peshmerga fighter aims to fire during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in the town of Naweran, near Mosul]()
Image: A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter during an attack on Islamic State militants in Nawaran -
![A member of Iraqi forces operates an unmanned drone to make it fly over Islamic State position outside the town of Safayah near Mosul]()
Image: Iraqi soldiers prepare an unmanned drone to fly over Islamic State territory outside the town of Safayah, near Mosul -
![Liberating troops with workers at a Christian church in Bartella, near Mosul, which has been retaken from Islamic State. Pic: A Demand For Action]()
Image: The bells at a Christian church rang for the first time in many months after Bartella, near Mosul, was liberated. Pic: A Demand For Action -
![People clean up a Christian church in Bartella, near Mosul, which has been retaken from Islamic State. Pic: A Demand For Action]()
Image: Clergy were left to clean up the church after the Islamic State fighters were driven out. Pic: A Demand For Action -
![Members of Iraqi forces eat their lunch in front of Islamic States positions at the town of Safayah near Mosul]()
Image: Iraqi troops eat their lunch in front of Islamic State's positions at the town of Safayah near Mosul -
![A displaced Iraqi girl looks on upon arriving to a refugee camp on October 22, 2016 in the town of Qayyarah, south of Mosul, as an operation to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group takes place]()
Image: A refugee camp in Qayyarah, south of Mosul. Aid agencies are preparing to look after thousands of civilians who are expected to flee the city -
![An Iraqi soldier tries to calm displaced people who are complaining about the lack of food supplies outside a processing centre as smoke from burning oil refinery blanketed Qayyara, south of Mosul]()
Image: There are already problems. Here an Iraqi soldier tries to calm refugees complaining about the lack of food outside a processing centre -
![TOPSHOT - An Iraqi forces member helps a displaced man push a car as they arrive at refugee camp on October 22, 2016 in the town of Qayyarah, south of Mosul, as an operation to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group takes place. Iraqi security forces battled for a second day with Islamic State group gunmen who infiltrated Kirkuk in a brazen raid that rattled Iraq as it ramped up an offensive to retake Mosul]()
Image: There are warnings of a humanitarian crisis when fighting reaches Mosul. Refugees like this family, pictured arriving at a camp, face an uncertain future
Kurdish Peshmerga forces are understood to be planning to stop along a line at an average of 12 miles outside Mosul and a US military official said on Saturday that the troops were "pretty much there".
Elite federal forces are then expected to lead the breach on the city.
However, progress has been hampered by a toxic cloud from by a fire started by IS fighters at a sulphur plant south of Mosul.
It has killed at least two civilians and forced some American personnel taking part in the US-backed operation to wear protective masks.
A local health centre said it had treated 500 people complaining of breathing problems.
A senior interior ministry officer in Qayyarah, a main staging base south of Mosul, said: "Of course, this is affecting our planned progress."
Meanwhile, Kurdish forces are also engaged in a huge push around the Islamic State-held town of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul.
They gained significant ground in the early days of the offensive, which launched on 17 October.
US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter praised them for "the way their efforts are completely coordinated with the Iraqi security forces".
He said the fight for Mosul was "on track and on schedule".
More than 30,000 troops are involved in the mission to retake the city.
A key concern is for the safety of up to 1.2 million civilians in Mosul, who are trapped by the fighting.
According to residents, living conditions are deteriorating daily, with food shortages and IS paranoia of informants mounting.
The United Nations has said Mosul could need the biggest humanitarian relief operation in the world once it has been liberated.
The interior minister of the Kurdish regional government, Karim Sinjari, said there were reports of people in Mosul rising up against IS and carrying out nighttime attacks.
He also claimed Islamic State's leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, had been in Mosul to try and rally the thousands of fighters who control the city.
Jihadists have been launching dozens of suicide car bombs against advancing forces, inflicting casualties and slowing their advance.
The hunt is also continuing for surviving militants who carried out a fierce raid on the Iraqi city of Kirkuk in an attempt to divert attention from the offensive to win back Mosul, 105 miles away.
Some 46 people - mostly from the security services - were killed in the fighting, according to the interior ministry. More than 130 were wounded.
The Kirkuk police chief said 48 attackers had also been killed and several others wounded.
Brigadier General Khattab Omer said: "The security forces control the situation now but there are still pockets of jihadists in some southern and eastern neighbourhoods."
IS controlled more than a third of Iraq two years ago, but its self-proclaimed caliphate has been shrinking steadily.