The fight for western Mosul

Twelve people, including women and children, are being treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents inside eastern Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces are fighting to liberate the city of Daesh, the United Nations said on Saturday.

The UN-run World Health Organization is preparing an emergency response plan to treat Mosul residents injured in what appears to be the first chemical weapon attack in the assault on Islamic State’s Iraqi stronghold.

Some militants were able to get near elite Iraqi units in southwestern Mosul, hidden among people displaced by the fighting, Reuters reported.

Iraqi forces are battling inside west Mosul to retake it from Daesh in a major push launched on 19 February, but have also moved through the surrounding desert to cut the area off from Tal Afar and increase pressure on the jihadists.

They are being treated at a hospital near the embattled city of Mosul, which Iraqi forces are trying to wrest from so-called Islamic State (IS).

A coalition spokesman told Reuters he was unaware of a strike on the mosque.

The UN, which has been providing shelter, food and other assistance to Iraqis who have fled Mosul during the almost five-month-long battle, said it is working as fast as possible to help those displaced. In return they received a pass to prevent their arrest and possible execution at militant check points.

The U.S. -led coalition dropped more than 15 munitions in Mosul on Friday, Ali said, saying they targeted auto bombs, sniper positions and small ISIS mortar units.

On Thursday, more than a thousand more streamed out southern Mosul, the majority on foot.

“We waited until all the IS fighters left the streets”, he said, his track suit covered in mud from the journey. Medics cleaned their wounds and wrapped them in blankets. For example, he said, many families from the Saladin province of Iraq fled to the Kirkuk province and continue to reside there, despite the liberation of Saladin more than a year and a half ago. One boy, Ali, held his baby sister as they queued for food handouts.

British military commanders are advising the Iraqi army on ousting IS from Mosul and then hunting down the fanatics as they seek to flee to other parts of Iraq and Syria.