Isis-held Mosul

Iraq has begun an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under ISIS control west of Mosul, Baghdad-based al-Sumariya TV reported on Tuesday, citing an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman.

US-backed Iraqi security forces closing in on the ISIS-held western half of Mosul launched a major offensive on the city's airport and fought their way into a nearby military base on Thursday.

The battle for Iraq's second city Mosul neared the remains of ancient Nimrud on Thursday, as the offensive against the ISIS group's Syrian stronghold Raqa was hampered by a sandstorm.

Simultaneous attacks on the ISIS-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror group's self-proclaimed caliphate across the border in Syria, would make military sense: such assaults would make it harder for the extremists to move reinforcements and deny them a safe haven.

Iraqi forces opened a second front on Saturday in preparation for an assault on the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, a day after government troops declared victory over the terrorists in Falluja.

Sniper fire by ISIS terrorists killed a senior Iraqi commander near the northern ISIS-held city of Mosul, the terrorist group's main bastion in Iraq, as the U.N. refugee agency warned that thousands of civilians have been newly displaced from that area.

The Iraqi army said today its troops and allied militia had launched what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the second city of Mosul, the ISIS's main hub in Iraq.

Iraq has begun an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under ISIS control west of Mosul, Baghdad-based al-Sumariya TV reported on Tuesday, citing an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman.

US-backed Iraqi security forces closing in on the ISIS-held western half of Mosul launched a major offensive on the city's airport and fought their way into a nearby military base on Thursday.

The battle for Iraq's second city Mosul neared the remains of ancient Nimrud on Thursday, as the offensive against the ISIS group's Syrian stronghold Raqa was hampered by a sandstorm.

Simultaneous attacks on the ISIS-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa, the de facto capital of the terror group's self-proclaimed caliphate across the border in Syria, would make military sense: such assaults would make it harder for the extremists to move reinforcements and deny them a safe haven.

Iraqi forces opened a second front on Saturday in preparation for an assault on the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, a day after government troops declared victory over the terrorists in Falluja.

Sniper fire by ISIS terrorists killed a senior Iraqi commander near the northern ISIS-held city of Mosul, the terrorist group's main bastion in Iraq, as the U.N. refugee agency warned that thousands of civilians have been newly displaced from that area.

The Iraqi army said today its troops and allied militia had launched what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the second city of Mosul, the ISIS's main hub in Iraq.