Iraqi forces squeeze Mosul, as IS tactics shift
As a ground offensive pushes slowly toward Mosul and air strikes intensify, IS militants use residents as human shields and step up executions to stifle internal dissent.
Iraqi soldiers fight on the outskirts of Makhmour on March 25, 2016, during the war against the Islamic State militant group. (AZAD LASHKARI/Reuters)
ERBIL/MOSUL - Pro-government forces are intensifying air and ground operations in and around Mosul, causing fighters from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) to adopt new tactics in anticipation of an offensive to dislodge them from Iraq's second-largest city.
On Thursday, Iraqi ground forces, backed by coalition air support, retook about six villages west of Makhmour - between Erbil and Mosul - from which IS militants had staged rocket attacks, including one that killed a U.S. marine on March 19. The territorial gains also put pro-government forces closer to the IS group's oil and transit hub of Qayyarah.
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