Iraqi forces begin assault on Mosul’s old city

IRBIL, Iraq — Iraqi forces on Sunday began penetrating the narrow streets and warrens of Mosul’s heavily populated old city, in the last phase of a monthslong battle against Islamic State militants that U.S. commanders have described as one of the toughest in urban warfare since World War II.

The assault began at dawn, with airstrikes and a push by Iraq’s counterterrorism forces into the neighborhoods of the old city. It was met with fierce resistance by Islamic State fighters, according to commanders, suggesting that the battle, the most vicious phase in the long fight for Mosul, could go on for days or weeks.

As the fight began, security forces broadcast a message to residents of the old city over loudspeakers: “The security forces are advancing toward you and the salvation hour is near, and the enemy is losing its positions one after another, and their end is near.”

The message continued, asking civilians to flee toward security forces: “Come toward your brothers, your armed forces, and you will find the proper care.”

The area of the old city sits on the west bank of the Tigris River and is home to the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, whose distinctive leaning minaret dominates western Mosul’s skyline. It is where the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in 2014 spoke from the pulpit and declared his caliphate.

The battle for Mosul — the largest city that the Islamic State group has controlled in a vast territory straddling the border between Iraq and Syria — is already in its ninth month.