ALALAM – Iraq

ISIS militants, meanwhile, shelled the district with a heavy barrage of mortars. Scores of families braved the fighting, leaving their homes and fleeing ISIS-held districts for the relative safety of the Shaimaa and Entissar neighborhoods, both retaken by government troops, or camps for the displaced at a safe distance outside the city.

Mosul was captured by the ISIS militants in June 2014. Fighting has been mostly focused in the part of the city east of the Tigris River, with the special forces deployed there progressing slowly due to strong resistance from the ISIS group and fears over the safety of civilians.

There are an estimated 1 million civilians inside the city, Iraq's second largest and the last major urban center still held by ISIS group in Iraq.

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