Iraq forces start storming Mosul's Old City held by IS

Iraqi forces started storming the Islamic State-held Old City of Mosul on Sunday, according to a releasedmilitary statement. Mosul used to be the Islamic State (IS) capital in Iraq, but now the historic district is the last still under the militantscontrol.

It is quintessential guerilla warfare here,fought in a densely-populated labyrinthof narrow alleyways.Combatis often conducted house by house.

About 100,000 civilians remain trapped here, stuckwith little food, water and medicine. Hospital access islimited, too, according to the United Nations.

"This is the last chapter" in the offensive to take Mosul, said Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, the commander of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) elite units.

The US-backed Iraqi offensive to capture Mosul entered its ninth month on Saturday. As part of a diabolical tactic to keep civilians in as human shields,ISsnipersshootat families trying to escapeon foot or by boat across the Tigris River, the UNsaid on Friday.

Iraqi government forces regained eastern Mosul thisJanuary, then a month later began the offensive on the western side that includes the Old City.

The fall of Mosul would, in effect, mark the end of the Iraqi half of the "caliphate" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in a speech from an historic mosque in the Old City three years ago, covering parts of Iraq and Syria.

Here is a look back at WION's report from the end of 2016, at an earlier stage inthe fight to takeMosul back from the IS.

The pentagon has admitted to carrying out another airstrike that killed more than 200 civilians including women and children. The Iraqi vice president has called it a humanitarian disaster (APTN,WION)

(With inputs from Reuters)