MOSUL: Iraqi forces advanced in west Mosul and fighters in Syria seized a key supply route to Raqa on Monday as twin US-backed offensives gained ground against the Islamic State group, reports AFP.
Supported by the US-led anti-IS coalition, Iraqi government forces and a Kurdish-Arab alliance in Syria are battling to push the jihadists from Mosul and Raqa, the last two major urban centres under their control.
Intense fighting in recent days has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, raising fears for many more civilians still trapped in areas of IS's so-called "caliphate".
In Iraq, security forces advanced Monday towards a compound of jihadist-held government buildings and a bridgehead, on the second day of a renewed push in west Mosul.
The operation to retake west Mosul began on February 19, but had slowed amid several days of bad weather until a fresh drive began on Sunday. A senior Iraqi commander said in a statement that interior ministry forces -- backed by artillery and air support -- were advancing in three neighbourhoods of west Mosul with the aim of taking a government compound held by the jihadists.
AFP reporters in west Mosul have witnessed intense clashes, with heavy automatic weapons fire and clouds of black smoke billowing over the city.
Lieutenant Colonel Abdulamir Mohammedawi of the interior ministry's elite Rapid Response Division told AFP its forces were "advancing in the Al-Dawasa and Al-Danadan areas to liberate the government buildings and secure a route for families to leave".
Its sights were also set on the nearby Al-Hurriyah Bridge, he said, but Rapid Response had "not yet" reached it.
Mosul is divided by the Tigris River, and while the series of bridges crossing it have either been damaged or destroyed, they would provide a link between the Iraqi government-held east and IS-held west Mosul if they can be repaired or otherwise bridged.
Iraqi forces recaptured the western side of the fourth bridge, which is south of Al-Hurriyah, at the end of last month.
Iraq's Joint Operations Command also announced Monday that the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) had recaptured Al-Sumood, an area it had targeted as part of the push launched the day before.
The fighting in west Mosul has sparked an exodus from that side of the city, pushing more than 50,000 people to flee, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The operation to retake Mosul was launched on October 17, with a number of forces taking part but CTS and Rapid Response ultimately playing the leading roles in the advance.
In Syria, US-backed forces on Monday cut off a key supply route between IS stronghold Raqa and the group's territory in Deir Ezzor province.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, seized control of the only major road linking Raqa along the Euphrates valley to Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
The SDF launched its offensive for Raqa in early November and has since seized swathes of territory in northern Syria from the jihadists. Its forces made a major incursion into the oil-rich Deir Ezzor province last month, in a drive to encircle and besiege the jihadists in Raqa.