"Most of ISIS's foreign terrorists and their wives have enrolled for suicide attacks," the Arabic-language media quoted a local force as saying.

He reiterated that a sum of 450 ISIL terrorists and their wives who are mostly French or from the former Soviet republics have registered their names to take part in the suicide missions.

"The women have been ordered to drive the bomb-laden vehicles of their husbands to help them get closer to the Iraqi troops, while their husbands spray bullets at the Iraqi forces," the source added.

Earlier on Saturday, Hashd al-Shaabi started its long-waited offensive against the ISIS West of the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

“The operation aims to cut supplies between Mosul and Raqqah (in Syria) and tighten the siege (against the ISIL) in Mosul and liberate (the town of) Tal Afar,” Ahmad al-Assadi, a spokesman for the forces said.

Mosul, which fell to ISIL in 2014, has been declared by the terrorist group as its so-called headquarters in Iraq. The terrorists also consider the city of Raqqah as their “headquarters” in Syria.

A large-scale military offensive has been launched to retake Mosul by the Iraqi army, volunteer Shia and Sunni fighters, and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

The Western part of Mosul had been left open to the ISIL, potentially enabling the terrorist group’s members to move to neighboring Syria as Iraqi and Kurdish forces close in from the North, East and South.

Iraqi sources had earlier reported that the terrorists were leaving the Mosul in droves and heading to Syria.

Now with the start of operations by al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Western Mosul, the city has come under a full siege.

Iraqi security forces have been edging closer to Mosul by liberating villages around the city. Nearly 80 ISIL-held towns and villages have been retaken by the army since the Iraqi forces began the battle to liberate Mosul last week.

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