With IS militants purged from the eastern half of the city, security forces prepare for the next phase of battle while residents strive to recover from two months of urban warfare.

Despite losing ground in Mosul, IS militants to the east have stepped up insurgent attacks, conducting deadly raids on security forces, oil infrastructure, and rural villages.

Pushing into Mosul's eastern suburbs, special forces are weathering deadly counter-attacks as they gird for weeks of tough urban warfare.

Even as they lose ground around Mosul, IS militants showed their capacity for guerilla warfare, deploying 100-man squads to exploit security gaps in Kirkuk and Anbar.

Kurdish forces cordon off villages around Bashiqa, north of Mosul, pushing their front lines within 9 kilometers of the city.

Three improvised explosive devices have hit Basra city in the past three days, highlighting ongoing security problems.

IS militants aggressively defend villages around Mosul in a day of grinding battles and casualties.