The Iraqi government informed US commanders on Wednesday that 57 Iraqi soldiers had been killed and about 250 wounded. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are thought to have suffered about 20 to 30 fatalities.

But Iraqis who fled their homes expressed joy at escaping ISIS brutal rule as they were given shelter and assistance, in some cases reuniting with relatives they had not seen in more than two years.

The offensive, launched on 17 October, is seeing tens of thousands of Iraqi fighters advancing on Mosul from the south, east and north in a bid to retake the last major Iraqi city under ISIS control.

Backed with air and ground support from a US-led coalition, federal forces allied with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have taken a string of towns and villages in a cautious but steady advance.

The offensive has so far been concentrated in towns and villages around Mosul, with Iraqi forces later expected to breach city limits and engage the militants in street-to-street fighting.

Iraq's ministry of displacement and migration said on Thursday that more than 11,700 people had been displaced since the operation began.

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