Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State snipers killed 15 children while they were attempting to flee towards locations taken over by Iraqi security forces in Mosul, according to a security source.

“ISIS snipers killed 15 kids belonging to Mosul refugees who were heading to security forces,” the source told Alsumaria News, but did not clarify the time frame for the alleged killings.

“ISIS gangs have used the most horrific means of killing with the migrating people of Mosul, targeting them with IEDs, sniping their children to prevent them from leaving town and using them as human shields,” the source said.

Iraqi government forces, backed by tribal militias and US-led aircrafts, have been successfully liberating several villages around Mosul as part of a wide-scale operation that launched mid October to retake the city from ISIS. The forces commanders, while claiming daily victories, admit that the existence of civilians in the city, many of whom are reportedly used as human shields, have slowed down the pace of operations. </s> 'Bodies of murdered Iraqis lay in streets' after ISIL shooting, an apparent bid to prevent civilians fleeing, UN says.

Fighters from the ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS) group have killed more than 160 people in one day last week to prevent them from fleeing western Mosul, according to the United Nations.

The agency on Tuesday accused ISIL of carrying out the attack in the group's last stronghold, where a coalition of troops is working to flush out the fighters.

"The brutality of Daesh [ISIL] and other terrorist groups seemingly knows no bounds," said Zeid bin Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN's human rights chief.

"Yesterday, my staff reported to me that bodies of murdered Iraqi men, women and children still lay on the streets of the al-Shira neighbourhood of western Mosul, after at least 163 people were shot and killed by Daesh to prevent them from fleeing."

Hussein made the comments in his opening address to the UN Human Rights Council.

His spokesman, Rupert Colville, told the AFP news agency that the killings were believed to have taken place on June 1.

In late May, Iraqi forces launched a broad assault on parts of Mosul, closing in on the remaining pockets of territory held by ISIL.

Aid groups had expressed their concerns over the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk of being caught in the crossfire.

On Monday, UNICEF warned that 100,000 children were still in ISIL-held areas, living under extremely dangerous conditions.

Peter Hawkins, UNICEF's representative in Iraq, said the agency is receiving "alarming reports" of civilians being killed, including children, with some caught in the crossfire while trying to flee.

Separately, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday that at least 26 bodies of "blindfolded and handcuffed" men were found in government-controlled areas and around the city since the operation started.

READ MORE: UN envoy: Liberation of Mosul from ISIL is 'imminent'

Local armed forces told foreign journalists that 15 men were extrajudicially killed by government forces who were holding them on suspicion of being affiliated with ISIL, the rights group said.

HRW said that in the remaining cases reported by local and international sources, the sites of the apparent executions - all in government-held territory - raise concerns about government responsibility for the killings.

Last month, Stephen O'Brien, the UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, said the organisation had "deep concern" for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped behind ISIL lines.

"Although the UN is not present in the areas where fighting is occurring, we have received very disturbing reports of families being shut inside booby-trapped homes and of children being deliberately targeted by snipers," O'Brien said.

ISIL overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air raids have since regained much of the territory they lost to the group.

Iraqi forces launched a major operation to retake Mosul in October last year, fighting their way to the city and retaking its eastern side before setting their sights on its smaller but more densely populated west.

The eastern half of Mosul was declared liberated in January and the push for the city's western section, separated from the east by the Tigris River, began the following month.

Almost 10,000 people fled from Mosul's northwest and the Old City every day last week, according to UN estimates.

More than 750,000 people have been displaced from the city since October. </s> At least eight people were killed, and six were wounded in recent violence:

Three Turkish soldiers were killed and another was wounded in a cross border attack. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (P.K.K.) guerrillas launched a mortar attack from inside Iraqi territory that killed the soldiers who were nearby in Turkey’a Hakkari province.

Militants killed the son of the village mukhtar in Latifiya.

In Jabal al-Shoor, security personnel killed an ISIS official.
• ISIS Executes Kurdish Intelligence Agent; Three Killed in Iraq – May 2nd, 2019
• In Iraq, 245 Killed or Found Dead During April – April 30th, 2019 </s> At least 1,970 were killed, executed, or found dead; and 194 more were wounded in recent violence. During March, at least 826 people were killed or found dead, and 286 were wounded. The higher fatalities figure is mostly due to the discovery of hundreds of corpses in the rubble of Mosul.

The analysis is as follows: At least 222 civilians, 277 security personnel, 458 militants, 49 PKK guerrillas, and one Turkish soldier were killed or found dead. Iraq also executed 13 people. Of these fatalities 1,444 were found in mass graves or extracted from the rubble of Mosul, leaving 526 people killed during the month of April. Security operations launched by Iraqi forces on Islamic State targets near the border in Syria accounted for 37 of the deaths. Of course, the deaths of the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) guerrillas and the Turkish soldier are from that conflict spilling over the border from Turkey.

At least 138 civilians, 50 security personnel, three militants, and three Turkish soldiers were wounded. Also, hundreds were sickened by water possibly tainted by unburied corpses finding their way into rivers in the Mosul region.

At least four people were killed, and three were wounded in recent violence:

Two people were killed in Dibs when leftover explosives were detonated.

A bomb at a shop in Baquba killed the owner.

An off-duty border guard died in a landmine explosion in Choman near the Iranian border.

In other news: The U.S.-led Coalition fighting the Islamic State militants deactivated the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command, which oversaw ground operations in Iraq and Syria. Although its authority was transferred to the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the closure represents the end of ground operations.
• Ten Foreign ISIS Wives Given Death Sentences; 10 Others Killed in Iraq – April 29th, 2018
• Five Foreign Women Condemned to Death in Iraqi Court; Four Killed in Iraq – April 26th, 2018 </s> Columbia: A Pentagon investigation has concluded that at least 105 civilians died in an anti-IS strike in the Iraqi city of Mosul in March, officials said Thursday, but they blamed the toll on a secondary explosion of jihadist munitions.

A US aircraft delivered a single precision-guided bomb into a building in west Mosul on March 17, with the aim of killing a pair of snipers on the second story of the structure in the al-Jadida neighborhood, which at the time was under Islamic State control.

But the bomb also caused a large cache of IS explosives to detonate, leading to the catastrophic collapse of the building that had civilians sheltering downstairs, officials said.

"The secondary explosion triggered a rapid failure of the structure which killed the two ISIS snipers, 101 civilians sheltered in the bottom floors of the structure and four civilians in the neighboring structure to the west," said US Air Force Brigadier General Matt Isler, the lead investigator.

Isler said another 36 civilians who are "believed to be connected" to the building remained unaccounted for, but they had likely fled the area shortly before the strike. He said he was "very confident" in the final toll.

It was the single deadliest incident for civilians stemming from a coalition strike since anti-IS operations in Iraq and Syria began nearly three years ago. 

 The United States had previously only acknowledged that it "probably" had a role in the civilian deaths.

The investigation comes amid broader claims that US forces under President Donald Trump are killing more civilians as the military fulfills a plan to "annihilate" the Islamic State group.

The Pentagon denies this and says its rules of engagement remain unchanged and insists its precision-targeting abilities are the best in the world.

Officials say the US takes every precaution to avoid hitting civilians, including by aborting missile strikes at the last moment if a civilian unexpectedly wanders into the target zone.

"Our condolences go out to all those that were affected," said Major General Joe Martin.

"The coalition takes every feasible measure to protect civilians from harm. The best way to protect civilians is to defeat ISIS."

No condolence payments have been made, Isler said, though such a move has not been ruled out.

According to Isler, Iraqi counterterrorism service (CTS) troops had been moving into the al-Jadida neighborhood in west Mosul when they came under fire from the IS snipers.

Mosul was a former IS bastion but the jihadists now only control about 10 percent of the city.

Bad weather had kept surveillance drones from gathering video of the area for two days, and CTS and coalition forces -- not knowing civilians were in the building -- ultimately called in a strike, Isler said.

The precision-guided bomb selected -- a GBU-38 carrying 192 pounds of explosives -- was rigged to cause only localized damage to the building, but it ignited a large amount of ordnance which, unbeknownst to the coalition, IS fighters had previously placed inside.

"Post-blast analysis detected residues common to explosives used by ISIS, but not consistent with the explosive content of a GBU-38 munition," Central Command said in a statement.

"Engineering and weapons analysis indicates that the GBU-38 should have resulted in no more than 16-20 percent damage to the structure, localized to the front of the second floor."

Officials said IS may have deliberately rigged the building to explode and then used the snipers to intentionally provoke an air strike.

As of the most recent Centcom official tally, at least 352 civilians had been killed since the beginning of the bombing campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria nearly three years ago.

Airwars, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers that tracks civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria, claims a minimum of 3,350 people have died in coalition strikes. </s> (IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – Iraqi media outlets reported on Saturday, that the Islamic State group executed 284 persons, including children in the city of Mosul over the past two days.

Al Sumaria News stated, “The victims were killed by firing squad at the Faculty of Agriculture north of the city of Mosul, where they were brought to the site on three consecutive batches,” adding that, “After the execution the bodies were transferred by bulldozers to mass graves at the same area.”

“Nearly 150 of these victims were executed after sunset on Thursday,” Al Sumaria added. “61 victims did not exceed the age of 14 years, and the dead were residents of villages and towns located to the northwest of Mosul, including al-Zawiya town,” Al Sumaria explained.

The ISIS is trying to strengthen its grip on Mosul, while the joint security forces, backed by the Army Aviation and the international coalition air force, continue advancing in the battle to liberate Mosul from the grip of ISIS. </s> At least 24 people were killed, and 13 were wounded in recent violence:

South of Dujail in 14th Ramadan village, gunmen killed 16 people and wounded four more at three different homes, which belonged to sons of Judge Rahim al-Marzouq. Most of the victims were women and children. It is unclear if this is the same attack as the one reported in Tarmiya, several miles south of Dujail. Reports of casualties have varied wildly, but another 20 casualties were reported there on Monday. There also were reports that Islamic State militants may have held the town.

A bomb targeting police at a Mosul train station killed two policemen and wounded five more. Four dumped bodies were found at another location.

A policeman was killed and two were wounded when a pair of bombs exploded in Mukhisa, near Baquba.

Two people were wounded by a bomb blast in Tarmiya.
• 526 Killed in Iraq or in Iraqi Operations near the Syrian Border During April; 1,444 Found in Mass Graves – April 30th, 2018
• Ten Foreign ISIS Wives Given Death Sentences; 10 Others Killed in Iraq – April 29th, 2018
• Five Foreign Women Condemned to Death in Iraqi Court; Four Killed in Iraq – April 26th, 2018 </s> Those who have been executed included civilians who have refused to comply with the relocation orders and 190 former Iraqi Security Forces officers.

Islamic State group fighters slaughtered at least 232 people in and around Mosul this week as Iraqi troops advanced on the city, the U.N. rights office said Friday.

"Last Wednesday, 232 civilians were reportedly shot to death. Of these there were 190 former Iraqi Security Forces officers," rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

"These reports have been corroborated to the extent possible," she added, stressing that the number of people killed in recent days could be higher.

Ms. Shamdasani said the execution-style killings came as IS was pushing forward with its strategy of forcing people living near the northern Iraqi city into Mosul, the group's last bastion in Iraq.

The rights office has said the jihadists aim to use these people as "human shields" in the ensuing battle for Mosul against US-backed elite Iraqi troops.

"ISIL has been forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes in some districts around Mosul," Ms. Shamdasani said .

Those who have been executed included civilians who have refused to comply with the relocation orders and those who previously worked for the government security services. </s> Belgian prosecutors have admitted a two-year-old Kurdish Iraqi girl was shot and killed by a police officer last week. It happened during a high-speed chase of a van carrying 26 refugees, including several children.

The case has highlighted the increasingly repressive Belgian immigration policy and pressure on police to intercept as many migrants as possible.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull spoke to the grieving family in an exclusive interview in Brussels. </s> (CNN) ISIS rounded up and killed 284 men and boys as Iraqi-led coalition forces closed in on Mosul , the terror group's last major stronghold in Iraq, an Iraqi intelligence source told CNN.

Those killed Thursday and Friday were used as human shields against attacks forcing ISIS out of southern parts of Mosul, the source said.

ISIS dumped the corpses in a mass grave at the defunct College of Agriculture in northern Mosul, the intelligence source said.

The victims -- including children -- were all shot, said the source, who asked for anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. CNN could not independently confirm the killings.

Latest developments

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Erbil on Sunday, after commenting that the Mosul operation was going to plan

Peshmerga forces started an offensive from two fronts in Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul, the Peshmerga General Command said Sunday

Prime Minister Abadi reiterated his view that Iraq does not need Turkey's assistance in the battle

Kurdish officials accused Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk of supporting ISIS a day after attacks killed dozens

Iraqis displaced by the Mosul offensive are seeking shelter in camps, the UN refugee agency said

Freeing a Christian town

The Iraqi military intensified its offensive Saturday to retake Hamdaniya -- also known as Qaraqosh -- from ISIS, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command center said. Iraqi forces and a Christian paramilitary group entered the town Wednesday, but face fierce resistance from ISIS fighters, 200 of whom were killed in one day of clashes.

JUST WATCHED ISIS using drones in battle for Mosul Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH ISIS using drones in battle for Mosul 02:43

The city is about 15 kilometers (nine miles) southeast of Mosul.

Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga -- as the Kurdish fighters are known -- have made progress and isolated Hamdaniya, a US military official said in Baghdad, speaking on background.

Iraqi troops on Saturday entered the al-Askary neighborhood and liberated the mayor's building and the main hospital, raising the Iraqi flag over those buildings, Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Maliky said.

At least 60 ISIS fighters have been killed since Friday when Iraqi security forces launched an attack on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Gov. Najmaldin Karim said.

"Life will be restored to normal in the next few hours" Karim said Sunday, adding that security checkpoints in the city would be reopened. He did not mention how many security forces and civilians were killed in the ISIS offensive.

Tal Kayf is next target

Iraqi troops are also advancing toward Tal Kayf and plan on storming the Chaldean town, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said Saturday.

Iraqi army and militia forces arrive Thursday in Saleh village in the offensive to wrest Mosul from ISIS.

Tal Kayf is about 10 kilometers (six miles) north of Mosul.

It's the closest Iraqi security forces have come to Mosul, a CNN analysis indicates.

The US military official said US and coalition aircraft were providing air support as needed Saturday. The official said land forces were working through "a hard outer crust," and resistance would intensify as the offensive neared Mosul.

The official said ISIS fighters have infiltrated towns cleared earlier, including Bartella, requiring renewed efforts to combat them.

Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Members of the Iraqi federal police wave the country's flag as they celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on July 9, 2017. Iraq declared victory against ISIS forces in Mosul after a grueling monthslong campaign. The battle to reclaim Mosul, the last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, has been underway since fall 2016. Hide Caption 1 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city This injured girl was found by Iraqi forces as they advanced against ISIS militants in the Old City of Mosul on Monday, July 3. She was carried away for medical assistance. Hide Caption 2 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A suspected ISIS fighter is held in a basement while Iraqi forces continue to push for control of the Old City of Mosul on Monday, July 3. Hide Caption 3 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi Special Forces soldier exchanges fire with ISIS militants in the Old City on Friday, June 30. Hide Caption 4 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A bomb explodes near the al-Nuri mosque complex on Thursday, June 29. Iraq's military has seized the remains of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri. Iraq and the United States have accused ISIS of blowing up the historic mosque. Hide Caption 5 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Members of the Iraqi Federal Police hold a position as US-led coalition forces advance through the Old City on Wednesday, June 28. Hide Caption 6 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city The remnants of Mosul's ancient leaning minaret are seen in the Old City on Sunday, June 25. ISIS' claim that US warplanes were responsible for the destruction of the minaret is "1,000% false," US officials told CNN. Hide Caption 7 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Two boys comfort each other after their home collapsed during fighting between Iraqi forces and militants in Mosul on Saturday, June 24. The boys, who are cousins, said some of their relatives were still under the rubble. Hide Caption 8 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi soldier helps transport a girl as residents flee their homes west of Mosul on Friday, May 26. Hide Caption 9 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Displaced Iraqis make their way through rubble after evacuating their homes in a neighborhood of west Mosul on Wednesday, May 17. Hide Caption 10 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi man tries to extinguish a burning car during fighting in Mosul's western Rifai neighborhood on Tuesday, May 16. Hide Caption 11 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A member of the Iraqi counterterrorism service secures a building as troops push toward Mosul's Al-Oraibi western district on Sunday, May 14. Hide Caption 12 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A smoke cloud rises on the front line as the Iraqi Emergency Response Division advances in west Mosul on Saturday, May 6. Hide Caption 13 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A wounded man is transported in western Mosul on Friday, April 21. Hide Caption 14 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi federal policeman smokes during a break from battle on Wednesday, April 12. Hide Caption 15 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A member of Iraq's security forces stands guard in eastern Mosul as smoke rises from the ISIS-controlled western section of the city on Friday, April 7. Hide Caption 16 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqis visit a bath house on the southern outskirts of Mosul on Wednesday, April 5. Hide Caption 17 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Flames billow from an explosion in Mosul during a clash between Iraqi forces and ISIS fighters on Sunday, March 5. Hide Caption 18 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Families are forced to evacuate as Iraqi forces advance in western Mosul on Thursday, March 2. The number of internally displaced people has surged as the offensive effort has intensified. Hide Caption 19 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Mosul residents cross a damaged bridge in the al-Sukkar neighborhood on Saturday, January 21. Hide Caption 20 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city French President Francois Hollande and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, right, view territory held by ISIS during a visit to a military outpost near Mosul on Monday, January 2. Hide Caption 21 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A young girl takes part in a Christmas Day Mass at a church in the predominantly Christian town of Qaraqosh. The area's churches were heavily damaged by ISIS militants before the town was freed by Iraqi forces during the Mosul offensive. Hide Caption 22 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi Shiite fighters ride through a desert area near the village of Al-Boutha al-Sharqiyah, west of Mosul, on Friday, December 2. Hide Caption 23 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Internally displaced Iraqis who fled the fighting in Mosul watch as a civilian drone films them at the al-Khazir camp on Thursday, December 1. Hide Caption 24 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi soldier searches a home for ISIS militants after Iraqi forces retook the village of Al-Qasr on Wednesday, November 30. Hide Caption 25 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi soldiers transport a comrade who was injured during a battle near the village of Haj Ali on Tuesday, November 29. Hide Caption 26 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A man mourns during the funeral of four Iraqi paramilitary fighters who were killed in battles in the town of Tal Afar. Hide Caption 27 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Displaced civilians return to the village of Tall Abtah on Friday, November 25, after Iraqi forces retook the village from ISIS. Hide Caption 28 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi civilians sit on the ground in Mosul on November 24. An Iraqi officer addressed the group, demanding to know the whereabouts of alleged ISIS militants who opened fire on troops a few days earlier. Hide Caption 29 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An injured baby receives treatment at a field hospital in Mosul on November 15. Hide Caption 30 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A woman cries Sunday, November 13, after seeing the St. Addai church that was damaged by ISIS fighters during their occupation of the Keramlis village. Hide Caption 31 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi special forces soldier prays next to a Humvee before troops pushed toward Mosul's Karkukli neighborhood on November 13. Hide Caption 32 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds part of a defused bomb planted by ISIS militants in Bashiqa, Iraq, on Friday, November 11. Hide Caption 33 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A member of Iraq's special forces guards two suspected ISIS fighters found hiding in a house in Mosul on November 11. Hide Caption 34 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi woman displaced by war holds her cat near a checkpoint in the Iraqi village of Shaqouli, east of Mosul, on November 10. Hide Caption 35 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi troops watch a broadcast of Donald Trump's acceptance speech in a house in Arbid, on the outskirts of Mosul, on Wednesday, November 9. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated Trump on his win and said he hoped for continued support in the war on ISIS. Hide Caption 36 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city US Marines install equipment at a coalition base in Qayyara on November 9. Hide Caption 37 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi forces member investigates a mass grave that was discovered after coalition forces recaptured the area of Hamam al-Alil on Monday, November 7. Hide Caption 38 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi children witness a man being interrogated by a member of the Iraqi army at a base next to the Al-Intissar neighborhood of Mosul on November 7. Hide Caption 39 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A civilian man who fled the fighting trims his beard after reaching an Iraqi army position in Mosul on November 7. Hide Caption 40 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Children play in debris created by an airstrike in Qayyara on Sunday, November 6. Hide Caption 41 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan sing as they hold a position near Bashiqa on November 6. Hide Caption 42 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A baby is passed through a fence back to his mother at a refugee camp in the Khazir region on Saturday, November 5. Hide Caption 43 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city People line up to receive food at a refugee camp in the Khazir region on November 5. Thousands are taking refuge in camps set up for internally displaced people. Hide Caption 44 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi soldiers pass near a bridge destroyed in an airstrike in Qayyara on November 5. Hide Caption 45 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi soldiers patrol an alley on the outskirts of Mosul on Friday, November 4. Hide Caption 46 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A suspected member of ISIS is detained at a checkpoint near Bartella, Iraq, on November 4. Hide Caption 47 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi families pack into a truck to be moved to camps on Thursday, November 3. Hide Caption 48 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi special forces soldier searches for the location of an ISIS sniper in Gogjali on November 1. Hide Caption 49 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A man fleeing the village of Bazwaya carries a white flag as he arrives at a checkpoint on November 1. Hide Caption 50 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi soldier receives treatment after being injured during clashes with ISIS fighters near Bazwaya on October 31. Hide Caption 51 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi soldier navigates through a shattered windshield as coalition forces advance on Bazwaya on October 31. Hide Caption 52 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche, center, performs Mass in the liberated town of Qaraqosh on Sunday, October 30. Hide Caption 53 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Children play in a camp for internally displaced people near Kirkuk, Iraq, on October 30. More than 600 families from Tel Afar, a town west of Mosul, have been living in the camp since ISIS took control of the area in 2014. Hide Caption 54 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Displaced families are seen on the road near Qayyara on Saturday, October 29. Hide Caption 55 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city U.S. military personnel take cover in a bunker after a mortar alarm was sounded at a coalition air base in Qayyara on Friday, October 28. Hide Caption 56 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Women and children grieve over the grave of a family member at a Qayyara cemetery damaged by ISIS on October 27. Hide Caption 57 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Residents of Qayyara wait for distribution of food and water rations on October 26. Local water sources have been contaminated by the burning oil and sulfur. Hide Caption 58 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraq's counterterrorism forces advance toward ISIS positions in Tob Zawa on October 25. Hide Caption 59 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Soldiers give first aid to an injured boy in Tob Zawa on October 25. Hide Caption 60 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Kurdish Peshmerga forces take positions as they start to move toward the Imam Reza and Tizxirab villages of the Bashiqa district on Sunday, October 23. Hide Caption 61 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi forces distribute fruit in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul, after recapturing it from ISIS on October 23. Hide Caption 62 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Kurdish security forces detain a suspected member of ISIS in the eastern suburbs of Kirkuk on Saturday, October 22. Hide Caption 63 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22. Hide Caption 64 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk on Friday, October 21. Hide Caption 65 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, who leads Iraq's counterterrorism forces, sits in Bartella on October 21 after the town was reclaimed. Hide Caption 66 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Peshmerga fighters look over a village during an assault near Bashiqa on Thursday, October 20. Hide Caption 67 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Iraqi forces head toward the front lines near Qayyara on Tuesday, October 18. Hide Caption 68 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city A Peshmerga fighter peers up from an underground tunnel in the liberated town of Badana on October 18. ISIS fighters have built tunnels below residential streets to escape from airstrikes. Hide Caption 69 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Kurdish security forces take up a position near ISIS-controlled villages on Monday, October 17. Hide Caption 70 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Smoke rises from a suicide car bomb attack carried out by ISIS in the village of Bedene on October 17. Hide Caption 71 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Members of the Iraqi coalition gather around a fire at Zardak mountain ahead of the offensive. Hide Caption 72 of 73 Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city Peshmerga forces deploy in the dark near the village of Wardak early on October 17. Hide Caption 73 of 73

Clashes in Kirkuk, Laylan

Kurdish security forces were going house to house Saturday in Kirkuk following a major ISIS attack a day earlier. Kirkuk is 175 kilometers (109 miles) southeast of Mosul.

Kirkuk's police chief said 48 ISIS militants were killed during hours of clashes.

Security officials told CNN that at least 40 others were killed and 76 wounded in the attack, the majority of them Kurdish Peshmerga.

The ISIS attacks continued in the area Saturday, with an attempt to infiltrate the town of Laylan, 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Kirkuk. Nine militants were killed, according to the mayor of Laylan, Mohammed Wais, and some security force members were injured.

Kurdish President Masoud Barzani described ISIS' attack on Kirkuk as "a failed attempt by terrorists to make up for the defeats they have suffered at the hands of the Peshmerga on the front line."

Previous attacks by ISIS militants on Kirkuk have been attempts either to capture the city from the Peshmerga or divert Kurdish troops from the fight in Mosul.

Kurdish officials accuse local Arabs of helping ISIS

In the wake of the Kirkuk attack, Kurdish officials accused local Arabs and some displaced in camps around the city of helping ISIS.

Kirkuk's police chief, Brig. Gen. Khatab Omar, said the militants had probably infiltrated the 600,000 internally displaced in and around the city.

Gen. Hallo Najat, another police official, told local media to expect further fighting because 30% of the Arabs there supported ISIS rather than the government or Kurdish authorities.

Najmaldin Karim, Kirkuk's governor, said: "We have prior knowledge that an operation like this could happen; we were preparing for it, but the timing was not known exactly."

He said a curfew would remain in force for another day and urged the internally displaced community in Kirkuk to help track down militants.

US defense chief briefed on Mosul operation

Carter, the US defense secretary, paid an unannounced visit Saturday to Baghdad, where he was briefed on the Mosul offensive and met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

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Carter then addressed about 50 US service members at Baghdad International Airport, recalling the US naval officer killed this week in northern Iraq and the risks taken by all those serving.

The defense chief told the crowd he was encouraged by what he has seen so far in the fight to retake Mosul.

"So far it is proceeding according to our plan," Carter said. "We've got tough fighting ahead and the US will continue to play its part."

US forces in Iraq are providing air support for the Mosul operation as part of an international coalition. US special operations forces are also advising Iraqi and Kurdish units on the ground.

After meeting with Carter, Abadi repeated his view that Iraq does not need Turkey's assistance in the battle for Mosul, while acknowledging the importance of maintaining good relations with its northern neighbor. "If we (need) help, we will ask for it from Turkey or from other regional countries," he said.

UN 'gravely worried' over human shield use

The United Nations expressed concern Friday that ISIS has taken 550 families from villages around Mosul to use as human shields.

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Two hundred families from Samalia village and 350 families from Najafia were forced out Monday and taken to Mosul in "an apparent policy by ISIS to prevent civilians escaping," Ravina Shamdasani, deputy spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, told CNN.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, "We are gravely worried by reports that (ISIS) is using civilians in and around Mosul as human shields as the Iraqi forces advance, keeping civilians close to their offices or places where fighters are located, which may result in civilian casualties."

Iraqis flee violence

The first influx of Iraqis -- 144 people -- arrived at a new camp, Zelikan, set up to shelter what is expected to become a flood of families displaced by the Mosul offensive, the UN refugee agency said Saturday.

UN data indicate some 3,900 people -- or 650 families -- have so far been forced from Mosul and Hamdaniya districts, agency spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing Friday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The UN refugee agency is working to establish 11 camps , five of which are already in place, to house those forced from their homes by the battle. The camps will have capacity for about 120,000 people, the agency said.

As many as 600,000 could be helped if the refugee agency obtained sufficient funding, it said. Mosul is believed currently to have a population of about 1.5 million people, it added.

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The charity Oxfam warned Saturday that more must be done to provide safe routes for those fleeing the conflict.

People who escaped from Hawd, 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of Mosul, told Oxfam that many civilians had been injured.

A woman told Oxfam her children had respiratory issues after breathing in thick smoke from oil wells that ISIS militants set afire to provide cover from coalition air attacks.

The smoke also concerned US and coalition troops at an airfield near Qayyara, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Mosul. Forces were assessing Saturday whether the smoke was putting them at risk, and troops have been told to limit their outdoor activity, the US military said.
At least 15 children are killed by ISIS snipers in Mosul.