BAGHDAD (AP) – Heavy fighting erupted in the eastern neighborhoods of Mosul on Friday as Iraqi special forces launched an assault deeper into the urban areas of the city and swung round to attack Islamic State militants from a second entry point, to the northeast.
Here is a look at the main developments on the 19th day of the Mosul Offensive:
NEW ASSAULT IN NORTHEAST
Columns of armored vehicles wound through open desert to open the new front, pushing through dirt berms, drawing heavy fire and calling in airstrikes to enter the middle-class neighborhoods of Tahrir and Zahara. The area was once named after former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Several explosives-laden vehicles tried to attack the troops but were destroyed, including a bulldozer that was hit by an airstrike from the U.S.-led coalition supporting the offensive. Two vehicles, however, managed to detonate close to the advancing forces. Five special forces soldiers were killed over the course of the day, while one officer and three soldiers were wounded, as well as an Iraqi journalist who had been embedded with the advancing troops, an Iraqi military officer said.