Iraqi soldiers fight to clear IS from last patch

and the families who are stuck there,” said Lt Gen Abdul-Ghani al-Asadi, a senior special forces commander, using the Arabic name for IS.

He said most civilians left in the Old City are believed to be IS family members. “But we will not accuse them of anything,” he continued. “If they don’t carry weapons they are civilians.”

On Sunday, Iraqi soldiers celebrated recent gains, though Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stopped short of declaring an outright victory.

On his visit to Mosul, Mr al-Abadi met field commanders, kissed babies and toured a reopened market.

But air strikes and sniper fire continued amid the revelry as the extremists stubbornly held on to a small area in the Old City.

Over the nearly ninemonth campaign, Iraqi forces have reduced the IS hold on Mosul to less than a square kilometre (less than a mile) of territory.