Sky News has obtained footage, believed to have been filmed by a young boy, which shows frenzied Islamic State fighters attacking Iraq's Special Forces in Mosul.

While Iraq's Special Forces prepare to launch an offensive against IS in western Mosul with the direct assistance of US forces, high level negotiations between Iraqi and American officials continue after strong condemnation of President Trump's travel ban by the country's parliament, military and public.

The focus of attention in Mosul is now firmly across the Tigris river that splits the city in half. Thousands upon thousands of civilians still live there, but this is the redoubt of Islamic State where they will use the myriad of streets and alleyways to fight to the death.

Iraq troops say Trump has gone to war with Islam

It is their last stand in Iraq and video released to Sky News reveals a level of commitment to fighting that regular armies can overcome only with superior forces and equipment.

The video was filmed in a flat in the city's university, the headquarters, in western Mosul, of Islamic State.


Two young men scream and fire continuously through a window. One of them appears to be high on some form of drug as his behaviour is virtually deranged.

They are firing so much that one of their weapons overheats and smoke pours from the machine gun. He continues to use it as they have no water to cool it down.

It is crazy and chaotic and illustrative of the sort of people that the Iraqis are fighting. The voice of a young boy can be heard as he films the firefight.

Iraqi parliament votes to 'retaliate' against Trump's travel ban

On the same video a young boy we believe to be the cameraman is filmed dressed in full army camouflage singing a song celebrating the death of people attacking Islamic State. We do not know the whereabouts of him or the two gunmen.

They may have escaped across one of the Tigris bridges or died in the university compound which is now almost completely destroyed. Iraqi forces say that IS set fire to a number of buildings before they withdrew.

The area near the bridges is a no-go zone for civilians, a deadly no man's land where rockets and mortars from both sides whiz overhead and the crunch and burst of incoming explosions is continuous.

:: Iraqis say US President Donald Trump 'has gone to war with Islam'

Securing the bridges will be a priority for the Iraqis but it has to be done from the western bank of the river. All the bridges have been dropped by US jets, but they have bombed the access points to the bridges not the central sections. It means that Iraqi units can temporarily repair them and secure access for more reinforcements from the east.

Forces are now drawing back from the east and preparing to cross lower down the river and fight their way along the west bank. Columns of tanks, Humvees and trucks are rumbling away from the city.

Once there they will make hasty repairs. The point is they will do that under continuous fire and vehicle driven IEDs. It is estimated IS have used 700 vehicle IEDs so far. It will be hellish. But commanders are confident.

Trump defends travel ban

The head of the Mosul operation, General Abdul Wahab Al Saadi, told me that in his opinion the majority of Islamic State's best fighters are dead or fled.

"They are good with vehicle IEDs but it takes five minutes to kill them. The people left are locals, it will not be difficult," he said.

A colonel Sky News is close to said he thought it more likely that those who are there will fight to the death and will be more effective than his boss thinks. On balance, officers on the ground are usually the most accurate.

In eastern Mosul life is certainly returning to normal while there is a gap in the intense fighting.

:: UK opposition mounts over Donald Trump's travel ban

A dressmaker working on his 2017 collection told me it was the first time in two years that he had made a dress in any other colour than black. He proudly showed me colourful frocks displayed on mannequins, again for the first time in two years. IS banned mannequins.

Mums and daughters now shop for pretty bangles and clothes in teeming markets. Things are changing for certain but the fighting here is far from over. As we filmed, armoured Humvees took positions at either end of the market street. It is better but the military is never far away.