This is the reality of the battle for Mosul - the battle for Islamic State's de facto capital .

And it's tragic.

Last night suicide bombers in the war-ravaged city dressed up as Iraqi soldiers to lure civilians onto the street before blowing themselves - and the innocent - up.

The horrific scenes witnessed by freelancer Owen Holdaway, one of a handful of journalists in the western part of the decimated city of Mosul .

At least 50 people were estimated to have died and over a hundred injured when the three suspected Islamic State jihadis detonated their explosives.

The civilians had been hiding out in the relative safety of their homes as Islamic State and the Iraqi military waged war on the streets.

A grieving man by the bodies of three family members, including a baby. (Owen Holdaway)

But as the fighting shifted away, men dressed as Iraqi soldiers told them they could leave with them.

"They shouted we are the Iraqi forces, come towards us," one survivor said.

"The suicider forced us to leave the houses and was dressed up in ICTF uniform - he came over and then blew up.”

The casualties were moved to three hospitals across Mosul.

Iraq Army Major Dr Ahmed al-Sodney said treating so many injured civilians was beyond the capacity of the frontline hospital.

"We were very much expecting these types of attacks," he said.

Making the job for forces even harder, one of the attending doctors was overheard saying more and more IS were now "hiding amongst the civilians”.

An injured man gestures to the camera in Mosul. (Owen Holdaway)

Iraqi forces have battled their way along two streets that meet in the heart of Mosul's Old City , with the aim of opening routes for civilians to flee Islamic State's last stand there.

US-trained urban warfare units are leading the fight in the maze of narrow alleyways of the Old City, the last district in the hands of the Sunni Islamist insurgents.

Iraqi authorities are hoping to declare victory in the northern Iraqi city in the Muslim Eid holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, during the next few days.

Military analysts say the government troops' advance will gather pace after Islamic State fighters blew up the 850-year-old al-Nuri mosque and its famous leaning minaret on Wednesday.

Its destruction gives the troops more freedom in attack as they no longer have to worry about damaging the ancient site.

It was in the al-Nuri mosque that Islamic State's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed its "caliphate" over parts of Iraq and Syria three years ago.

A US-led international coalition is providing air and ground support in the eight-month-old offensive to drive the militants from their de facto capital in Iraq.

An injured man is attended to. (Owen Holdaway)