Troops move into Mosul’s old city

IRAQI troops have launched an assault on the last Islamic State stronghold in the city of Mosul.

Lieutenant General AbdulAmir Rasheed Yar Allah, who commands army operations in Ninevah province, said Iraqi special forces, the regular army and federal police are taking part in the operation to retake the Old City.

IS captured Mosul when it swept across northern and central Iraq in the summer of 2014, but Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to retake the city last October.

Up to 150,000 civilians are believed to be trapped in the Old City, where the militants are using them as human shields, UN humanitarian co-ordinator Lise Grande has said.