U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launch fresh push towards Mosul old city centre

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched on Sunday a new push towards the Islamic State-held old city centre of Mosul, on the western bank of the Tigris river, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

Iraqi forces are fighting their way towards the old centre of the city, advancing from the south and the southwest, Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the joint operations command, told state-run television.

Iraqi forces captured the eastern side of Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting and launched their attack on the districts that lie west of the Tigris river on Feb. 19.

Their advance in western Mosul paused over the past 48 hours because of bad weather.

Defeating Islamic State in Mosul would crush the Iraqi wing of the caliphate declared by the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in 2014, over parts of Iraq and Syria.