Iraqi troops enter Mosul city limits: reports

Iraqi special forces entered the eastern outskirts of Mosul on Tuesday, as the battle to oust the Islamic State group from the country’s second largest city continued.

Troops supported by United States-led coalition airstrikes launched artillery, tank and machine gun fire on militant positions before entering the city’s Gogjali neighborhood. Extremists retaliated with guided anti-tank missiles and small arms, the Associated Press reported.

It is the first time the troops have entered Mosul since 2014, when the militant group, also known as ISIL and ISIS, captured it. The battle to retake the city has raged for more than two weeks.

“The special forces have stormed in,” Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces told the AP. He said the troops were 800 yards from the more centrally located Karama district.

“Daesh is fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off the Karama neighborhood and our troops’ advance,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

On Monday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told state-run Iraqiya TV that Iraqi forces would "cut the head (off) the snake.”

"We are going to Mosul to free them from ISIS," he said, adding in a message to the militants: "There is no way to escape, either surrender or die."