Mosul — Iraqi forces battled Islamic State (IS) fighters on the eastern edge of Mosul on Tuesday as the two-week campaign to recapture the jihadists’ last main bastion in Iraq entered a new phase of urban warfare. Artillery and air strikes pounded the city, which is still home to 1.5-million people. Residents said the Sunni militants had resorted to street fighting to try to hold the army back. Elite Iraqi forces also entered the state television station in Mosul on Tuesday, the first capture of an important building in the IS-held city since the start of the offensive, the force commander, Lt-Gen Talib Shaghati, said. Iraqi troops, security forces, Shiite militias and Kurdish peshmerga have been advancing on several fronts towards Mosul, backed by US-led troops and air forces. Special forces units sweeping in from the east have made fastest progress. "We are fighting battles on the eastern outskirts of Mosul," Lt-Gen Abdul Wahab al-Saidi said. "The pressure is on all sides of the c...
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