Story highlights
- Shia militia claim to have held western road out of Mosul, a key escape route for ISIS fighters
- Iraqi forces clearing road 200 meters (yards) from Mosul
Irbil, Iraq (CNN)Shia militia involved in the offensive around Mosul say they have cut off an avenue of retreat for ISIS fighters who remain in the city.
The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) -- a largely Shia paramilitary force assigned the task of advancing west of Mosul -- say they have cut access to the main road leading from Mosul to western Iraq and toward Syria.
Mosul families caught between fear and freedom 02:40
The PMU are advancing toward the town of Tal Afar, a largely ethnic Turkmen town and another, smaller ISIS stronghold, about a 77 kilometer (47 mile) drive west of Mosul. Because of its ethnic makeup, the fate of the town is a "very sensitive issue" for the Turkish government, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday.
The Turkish government has massed armaments on the Turkish-Iraqi border to combat "terrorist" activity.
"We definitely do not regard (the paramilitary units' involvement) positively in Tal Afar and Sinjar. I already told this to officials clearly," Erdogan added.
A statement on the PMU Twitter feed said the group was steadfast in their role and that "no Turkish threats will change this."
Iraq has warned Turkey it is not welcome to take part in the offensive. But Ankara says it has already taken part in an assault, on the request of Kurdish Peshmerga forces that Turkey has trained.
Eastern Mosul a stone's throw away
The eastern suburbs of ISIS-held Mosul are in sight, but the Iraqi forces trying to liberate the city are still struggling to get there.
ISIS snipers, relentless gunfire and mortar shelling are still keeping troops from penetrating the city's border.
Iraqi troops on outskirts of Mosul 03:24
A CNN crew, traveling with US-trained Iraqi counterterrorism forces, was just 200 meters (219 yards) from Mosul's eastern perimeter on Wednesday, with just a barren berm between them and more than 1 million civilians trapped in the city.
On Wednesday around 100 ISIS militants were seen riding motorcycles around the eastern Mosul neighborhood of al Qudes, witnesses tell CNN.
Some of those riding the bikes were as young as 12 years old, they said. Some were wearing suicide vests.
Residents in the al Qudes neighborhood tell CNN the ISIS fighters look weak and confused. Tires have been scattered through the neighborhood to be set on fire when Iraqi forces approach, the witnesses say.
Devastated city
Power and water supplies have been cut off to the city. Some shops are still open, witnesses say, but few people are willing to venture out to visit them.
Battle for Mosul
- Life in a post-ISIS town: Shaving, haircuts and cigarettes
- Inside ISIS-held Mosul: Secret film shows desolate scenes
- What US Special Forces are doing
- Thousands of displaced people flood Mosul as ISIS loses ground
- A conversation with the general running the war against ISIS
- Turkey's complex reasons for fighting
ISIS has controlled Mosul for more than two years, imposing its own brutal version of Islamic sharia law, responding to "offenses" such as smoking and shaving beards with medieval-style punishments.
Officials have warned that entering the city proper will likely trigger the fiercest fighting seen yet in the offensive, and with it a major challenge -- differentiating fighters from civilians.
ISIS is believed to have readied thousands of people to be used as human shields in the city, making targeted strikes incredibly complicated. Civilians have been advised to hunker down in their homes during the operation.
Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city
Members of the Iraqi federal police wave the country's flag as they celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on July 9, 2017. Iraq declared victory against ISIS forces in Mosul after a grueling monthslong campaign. The battle to reclaim Mosul, the last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, has been underway since fall 2016.
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This injured girl was found by Iraqi forces as they advanced against ISIS militants in the Old City of Mosul on Monday, July 3. She was carried away for medical assistance.
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A suspected ISIS fighter is held in a basement while Iraqi forces continue to push for control of the Old City of Mosul on Monday, July 3.
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An Iraqi Special Forces soldier exchanges fire with ISIS militants in the Old City on Friday, June 30.
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A bomb explodes near the al-Nuri mosque complex on Thursday, June 29. Iraq's military has seized the remains of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri. Iraq and the United States have accused ISIS of blowing up the historic mosque.
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Members of the Iraqi Federal Police hold a position as US-led coalition forces advance through the Old City on Wednesday, June 28.
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The remnants of Mosul's ancient leaning minaret are seen in the Old City on Sunday, June 25. ISIS' claim that US warplanes were responsible for the destruction of the minaret is "1,000% false," US officials told CNN.
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Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city
Two boys comfort each other after their home collapsed during fighting between Iraqi forces and militants in Mosul on Saturday, June 24. The boys, who are cousins, said some of their relatives were still under the rubble.
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An Iraqi soldier helps transport a girl as residents flee their homes west of Mosul on Friday, May 26.
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Displaced Iraqis make their way through rubble after evacuating their homes in a neighborhood of west Mosul on Wednesday, May 17.
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An Iraqi man tries to extinguish a burning car during fighting in Mosul's western Rifai neighborhood on Tuesday, May 16.
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A member of the Iraqi counterterrorism service secures a building as troops push toward Mosul's Al-Oraibi western district on Sunday, May 14.
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A smoke cloud rises on the front line as the Iraqi Emergency Response Division advances in west Mosul on Saturday, May 6.
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A wounded man is transported in western Mosul on Friday, April 21.
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An Iraqi federal policeman smokes during a break from battle on Wednesday, April 12.
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A member of Iraq's security forces stands guard in eastern Mosul as smoke rises from the ISIS-controlled western section of the city on Friday, April 7.
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Iraqis visit a bath house on the southern outskirts of Mosul on Wednesday, April 5.
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Flames billow from an explosion in Mosul during a clash between Iraqi forces and ISIS fighters on Sunday, March 5.
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Families are forced to evacuate as Iraqi forces advance in western Mosul on Thursday, March 2. The number of internally displaced people has surged as the offensive effort has intensified.
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Mosul residents cross a damaged bridge in the al-Sukkar neighborhood on Saturday, January 21.
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French President Francois Hollande and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, right, view territory held by ISIS during a visit to a military outpost near Mosul on Monday, January 2.
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Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city
A young girl takes part in a Christmas Day Mass at a church in the predominantly Christian town of Qaraqosh. The area's churches were heavily damaged by ISIS militants before the town was freed by Iraqi forces during the Mosul offensive.
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Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city
Iraqi Shiite fighters ride through a desert area near the village of Al-Boutha al-Sharqiyah, west of Mosul, on Friday, December 2.
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Internally displaced Iraqis who fled the fighting in Mosul watch as a civilian drone films them at the al-Khazir camp on Thursday, December 1.
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An Iraqi soldier searches a home for ISIS militants after Iraqi forces retook the village of Al-Qasr on Wednesday, November 30.
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Iraqi soldiers transport a comrade who was injured during a battle near the village of Haj Ali on Tuesday, November 29.
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A man mourns during the funeral of four Iraqi paramilitary fighters who were killed in battles in the town of Tal Afar.
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Displaced civilians return to the village of Tall Abtah on Friday, November 25, after Iraqi forces retook the village from ISIS.
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Iraqi civilians sit on the ground in Mosul on November 24. An Iraqi officer addressed the group, demanding to know the whereabouts of alleged ISIS militants who opened fire on troops a few days earlier.
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An injured baby receives treatment at a field hospital in Mosul on November 15.
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A woman cries Sunday, November 13, after seeing the St. Addai church that was damaged by ISIS fighters during their occupation of the Keramlis village.
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An Iraqi special forces soldier prays next to a Humvee before troops pushed toward Mosul's Karkukli neighborhood on November 13.
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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds part of a defused bomb planted by ISIS militants in Bashiqa, Iraq, on Friday, November 11.
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A member of Iraq's special forces guards two suspected ISIS fighters found hiding in a house in Mosul on November 11.
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An Iraqi woman displaced by war holds her cat near a checkpoint in the Iraqi village of Shaqouli, east of Mosul, on November 10.
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Iraqi troops watch a broadcast of Donald Trump's acceptance speech in a house in Arbid, on the outskirts of Mosul, on Wednesday, November 9. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated Trump on his win and said he hoped for continued support in the war on ISIS.
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Photos: Mosul: Iraqi-led forces push into key city
US Marines install equipment at a coalition base in Qayyara on November 9.
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An Iraqi forces member investigates a mass grave that was discovered after coalition forces recaptured the area of Hamam al-Alil on Monday, November 7.
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Iraqi children witness a man being interrogated by a member of the Iraqi army at a base next to the Al-Intissar neighborhood of Mosul on November 7.
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A civilian man who fled the fighting trims his beard after reaching an Iraqi army position in Mosul on November 7.
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Children play in debris created by an airstrike in Qayyara on Sunday, November 6.
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Female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan sing as they hold a position near Bashiqa on November 6.
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A baby is passed through a fence back to his mother at a refugee camp in the Khazir region on Saturday, November 5.
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People line up to receive food at a refugee camp in the Khazir region on November 5. Thousands are taking refuge in camps set up for internally displaced people.
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Iraqi soldiers pass near a bridge destroyed in an airstrike in Qayyara on November 5.
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Iraqi soldiers patrol an alley on the outskirts of Mosul on Friday, November 4.
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A suspected member of ISIS is detained at a checkpoint near Bartella, Iraq, on November 4.
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Iraqi families pack into a truck to be moved to camps on Thursday, November 3.
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An Iraqi special forces soldier searches for the location of an ISIS sniper in Gogjali on November 1.
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A man fleeing the village of Bazwaya carries a white flag as he arrives at a checkpoint on November 1.
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An Iraqi soldier receives treatment after being injured during clashes with ISIS fighters near Bazwaya on October 31.
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An Iraqi soldier navigates through a shattered windshield as coalition forces advance on Bazwaya on October 31.
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Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche, center, performs Mass in the liberated town of Qaraqosh on Sunday, October 30.
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Children play in a camp for internally displaced people near Kirkuk, Iraq, on October 30. More than 600 families from Tel Afar, a town west of Mosul, have been living in the camp since ISIS took control of the area in 2014.
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Displaced families are seen on the road near Qayyara on Saturday, October 29.
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U.S. military personnel take cover in a bunker after a mortar alarm was sounded at a coalition air base in Qayyara on Friday, October 28.
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Women and children grieve over the grave of a family member at a Qayyara cemetery damaged by ISIS on October 27.
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Residents of Qayyara wait for distribution of food and water rations on October 26. Local water sources have been contaminated by the burning oil and sulfur.
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Iraq's counterterrorism forces advance toward ISIS positions in Tob Zawa on October 25.
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Soldiers give first aid to an injured boy in Tob Zawa on October 25.
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Kurdish Peshmerga forces take positions as they start to move toward the Imam Reza and Tizxirab villages of the Bashiqa district on Sunday, October 23.
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Iraqi forces distribute fruit in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul, after recapturing it from ISIS on October 23.
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Kurdish security forces detain a suspected member of ISIS in the eastern suburbs of Kirkuk on Saturday, October 22.
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An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22.
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Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk on Friday, October 21.
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Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, who leads Iraq's counterterrorism forces, sits in Bartella on October 21 after the town was reclaimed.
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Peshmerga fighters look over a village during an assault near Bashiqa on Thursday, October 20.
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Iraqi forces head toward the front lines near Qayyara on Tuesday, October 18.
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A Peshmerga fighter peers up from an underground tunnel in the liberated town of Badana on October 18. ISIS fighters have built tunnels below residential streets to escape from airstrikes.
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Kurdish security forces take up a position near ISIS-controlled villages on Monday, October 17.
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Smoke rises from a suicide car bomb attack carried out by ISIS in the village of Bedene on October 17.
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Members of the Iraqi coalition gather around a fire at Zardak mountain ahead of the offensive.
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Peshmerga forces deploy in the dark near the village of Wardak early on October 17.
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ISIS leader: Don't retreat
ISIS' media arm, al-Furqan, has released audio purportedly featuring its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in which he says he's "confident of victory" in Mosul, the group's Iraqi stronghold.
Addressing the estimated 5,000 fighters holed up in the city, the Iraqi said that "holding your ground in honor is a thousand times better than retreating in disgrace."
It is the first time in almost a year that the elusive leader of the group has been heard from publicly.
Village largely destroyed
The village of Gogjali, which abuts Mosul and was the site of heavy clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIS fighters on Monday and Tuesday, has been heavily damaged. About 75% of its buildings have been destroyed, according to a CNN estimate.
About 100,000 forces in an Iraqi-led coalition have taken part in the push toward Mosul, freeing communities from ISIS control, village by village. US defense officials estimate that ISIS has about 5,000 fighters in and around Mosul.
The Iraqi-led coalition is an extraordinary union of forces from various religious and ethnic backgrounds that have often stood on opposing sides of the country's history. Among them are Kurdish and Shia paramilitary groups, who are still pushing in from the north and south. US special forces have supported the operation.
