Inhabitants of city say government forces have entered Karama and al-Qods districts despite stiff resistance from Isis fighters

Iraqi forces battling Islamic State near Mosul have breached the eastern districts of the city as a coalition including special forces units, tribal fighters and Kurdish paramilitaries pushes ahead with its offensive.

Inhabitants of the city said that Iraqi soldiers backed by airstrikes and artillery were advancing into the eastern-most neighbourhoods, despite stiff resistance from Isis fighters.

Speaking by telephone from the eastern edge of the city, Abu Mohammed, 35, who asked the Guardian to withhold his real name and exact location for fear of retaliation, said that government forces had entered the Karama and al-Qods neighbourhoods, and that many Isis fighters had withdrawn.

“The Iraqi army is near us. Daesh is putting up intense resistance but the Iraqi soldiers are not scared; they just advance,” he said.

It was unclear how many local people were trapped amid the fighting, but at least two families were reported to have been killed in the bombardment of the city, Isis’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

An estimated 2 million people still live in Mosul, which was conquered during a lightning Isis offensive in the summer of 2014. Reports have emerged that the militants have forcibly moved dozens of families to the city from its surrounding suburbs, apparently to use them as human shields during the offensive.

Abu Mohammed said that his family was terrified, but elated at the prospect of emerging from more than two years of rule by Isis, who he referred to by its Arabic name. “Today I am celebrating – who does like to get out of prison? Daesh caused so much misery and killing here in Mosul.”



Earlier on Monday, government troops dug in within less than a mile of the contested city.



Tens of thousands of fighters are converging on Mosul in a huge operation launched this month, led by Iraqi special forces and backed by US air power, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Shia militias in an effort to oust Isis militants from the city.





Why is the battle for Mosul significant? Mosul is Islamic State's last urban stronghold in Iraq, and the assault is the most critical challenge yet to the group's caliphate. Since Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of a caliphate from the city in June 2014, Mosul has been central to the group’s ambitions to spread its ruthless interpretation of Islamic law throughout the Arab world and beyond. Victory over Isis appears very likely, but there are concerns about what comes next: how to provide for up to 1.3 million refugees and how to re-establish governance in a city brutalised by tyranny.

Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, appeared on state TV dressed in military uniform and urged Isis fighters in Mosul to surrender.

“We will close in on Daesh from all angles and, God willing, we will cut the snake’s head,” he said while visiting troops in the town of Shura, south of Mosul.

“They will have no way out, and no way to escape,” he said. “Either they die, or surrender.”

Dozens of people have reportedly been killed by Isis as the group retreats back towards the city. Concern has mounted over what will happen to civilians during the urban combat that is likely to take place in the city, and the United Nations expects tens of thousands of people to be displaced.

Advancing in the vanguard are the elite counter-terrorism units, which played a key role in securing other urban redoubts that Isis has fled, such as Falluja and Ramadi. Their march has met obstacles including suicide bombers, dug-in Isis snipers and roadside bombs.



On Monday, Iraqi forces took the town of Bazwaya, clearing the way for an assault on Mosul. Some residents hung white flags on buildings in a sign they would not resist the government troops, Maj Salam al-Obeidi, a member of the special forces operation in Bazwaya, told the Associated Press. He said troops requested villagers stay inside their homes as Iraqi forces made their way through the streets, as a precaution against potential suicide bombers.