The Latest: Iraqi forces in Mosul fight face suicide bombers

Displaced people stand on the back of a truck at a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016. The U.N. human rights office is lauding efforts by the U.S.-led coalition in the battle against the Islamic State group in Mosul. The office in Geneva says coalition flights over Iraq have largely succeeded in preventing IS from bringing in 25,000 more civilians to the city center, where the militant group has been using people as human shields as Iraqi forces advance on Mosul. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) Displaced people stand on the back of a truck at a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016. The U.N. human rights office is lauding efforts by the U.S.-led coalition in the battle against the Islamic State group in Mosul. The office in Geneva says coalition flights over Iraq have largely succeeded in preventing IS from bringing in 25,000 more civilians to the city center, where the militant group has been using people as human shields as Iraqi forces advance on Mosul. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

By Associated Press November 3, 2016 2 min read

BAGHDAD (AP) – The Latest on the offensive by Iraqi forces and their allies to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

Iraqi special forces say they have fired a rocket to destroy an explosives-laden vehicle that sped out of a more central neighborhood of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil says the attacker came from the Samah neighborhood of the city, attempting to blow himself up among troops positioned in the Gogjali neighborhood.

Thursday’s attack came as a major offensive by Iraqi forces and their allies to retake Mosul from IS militants is now in its third week.