Civilians flee as Baghdad militias close in on Mosul

Heavy rain slowed Baghdad militias battling ISIS terrorists on Thursday (March 16) around Mosul’s Old City where the terrorists holed up in narrow alleyways and homes resisted with sniper fire, suicide attacks and car bombs.

Amid the combat, displaced people from southwestern districts of Mosul trudged through stream of rainwater while carrying their possessions.

Troops from the Baghdad police and ’elite Rapid Response units’ were about 500 m (550 yards) from the al-Nuri Mosque from where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate spanning Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The black jihadist flag was clearly visible draped from the mosque’s famous leaning minaret.

Adapted from Reuters.