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ISIS came under devastating attack from coalition forces as the “mother of all battles" to liberate Mosul City got underway.

As shells and bombs rained down on ISIS positions the terror group deployed waves of suicide bombers against Kurdish forces to the east of the Iraqi city.

Several suicide car bombs were also launched against the attacking force, although it is not known if there are casualties among the liberation forces .

The terror group’s artillery and mortar positions defending Mosul - the main ISIS stronghold in Iraq - were smashed by a barrage of air-strikes form warplanes.

Around 30,000 coalition troops, mostly Iraqi Army and including 6,000 Kurdish Peshmerga began the slow advance on the well-protected city, which ISIS overran in June 2014.

(Image: Getty)

It is feared as many as 8,000 ISIS fighters could be defending the city - which has been encircled by minefields and other terrifying defences aimed at slowing the attack.

Iraqi and Kurdish troops face oil-filled “rivers of fire” trenches ready to be set alight, attack tunnels, machine-gun and sniper nests and motorcyle suicide bombers.

ISIS may use civilians as human shields, force them to join squadrons of suicide bombers or be gassed by chemical weapons exploded as ISIS flees.

Among the forces are British SAS and Special Boat Service commandos and special forces soldiers from France, America, Australia, Germany and Jordan.

Amid fierce fighting plumes of smoke could be seen above the city, along with explosions deep inside Mosul as the coalition bombardment intensified.

(Image: Getty)

On the “eastern front” fleeing ISIS fighters set alight to one oil-trench send clouds of black smoke billowing into the sky, in a bid to hide their retreat .

As armoured convoys moved slowly towards the city attack helicopters opened fire on the Islamic State positions, setting off flares to divert heat-seeking missiles.

By midday Kurdish troops had secured seven villages east of Mosul and their armoured vehicles could be seen advancing further on the city.

The battle for Mosul, Iraq’s second biggest city, could take months and comes two years after ISIS swept through west and northern Iraq, declaring a new caliphate.

They ruled with a reign of terror, publicly executing and beheading thousands of Iraqi troops, police and civilians and kidnapping young boys to be trained as terrorists.

(Image: Getty)

Just days before the coalition attack got underway dozens of civilians were reported to have been beheaded or drowned within the city as a warning against helping the advancing troops.

Islamic State’s brutality has sparked fears that Shia factions among the invading force may take revenge on Sunni civilians.

In previous retakings of cities like Fallujah and Ramadi, further south, Sunni men have disappeared or been executed even though they were not linked to ISIS.

Yesterday it was suspected between 4,000 to 8,000 ISIS fighters remain in Mosul.

Terrified residents inside the city who were contacted by phone dismissed claims that ISIS had fled the city and were patrolling on motorbikes.

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Local man Abu Maher, said: “They are using motorcycles for their patrols to evade air detection, with pillion passengers using binoculars to check out buildings and streets from a distance.”

Like other civilians he was preparing makeshift defences and had been stockpiling food in anticipation of the assault, which could take months.

It is the biggest military operation in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011 and one of the biggest in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

But it is is fraught with risks, including the sectarian conflict between the city’s mainly Sunni population and advancing Shia forces.

Abu Maher added: “We set up a fortified room in the house by putting sandbags to block the only window and we removed everything dangerous or flammable. I spent almost all my money on buying food, baby milk and anything we might need.”

(Image: Getty)

The commander of the coalition, U.S. Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, warned the operation to take Iraq’s second largest city would likely continue for weeks “possibly longer”.

If Mosul falls it will leave Raqqa in Syria as Islamic State’s last stand city stronghold.

Islamic State fighters have been retreating since the end of last year in Iraq, where it is battling U.S-backed government and Kurdish forces as well as Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militias.

The Iraqi Kurdish military command said 4,000 Peshmerga took part in the operation to clear several villages held by Islamic State to the east of Mosul.

Within hours of the attack getting underway Iraq’s army media office said the advancing troops destroyed a number of Islamic State defence lines.

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One young unnamed Kurdish fighter in battle fatigues scanned the plain east of Mosul from his position on the heights of Mount Zertik and said: “We are the real Muslims, Daesh are not Muslims, no religion does what they did.”

Another soldier, Major Shiban Saleh, aboard a Syrian Kurdish Humvee said: “This is all Kurdistan. When we’re done here, we will chase them to Raqqa or wherever they go.”

He said about 450 Syrian Peshmerga fighters were involved in the offensive east of Mosul, which aims to take back nine villages during the day. By afternoon it is thought there were just two left in ISIS hands.

In 2014 shadowy Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a “caliphate” in Iraq and neighbouring Syria from Mosul’s Grand Mosque.

And now the United Nations is bracing for the world’s biggest and most complex humanitarian effort in the battle for the city, which could make 1 million people into refugees.

(Image: Reuters)

There are already more than three million people displaced in Iraq as a result of conflicts involving Islamic State.

Medicine is in short supply in Mosul, and food prices have risen sharply.

One resident called Saeed said: “Families in Mosul started stockpiling food yesterday in case the fighting reaches our streets and we can no longer go out.

“ISIS are still in Mosul and it’s not true that they left. They are continuing to erect blast walls in the streets to obstruct any advance.

It has emerged British RAF crews have played a key role in the operation, destroying rocket positions, artillery guns and ammo dumps in the days before the battle.

(Image: Getty)

Crucially as the operation got underway on Sunday an RAF Reaper patrolling to the north-west of Mosul destroyed an ISIS artillery position with a Hellfire missile.

The Reaper unmanned drone then pinpointed ISIS mortar positions for other coalition jets that destroyed them with a devastating bombing run.

Later on Sunday a British Typhoon jet to the west of Mosul fired Paveway IVs, totally destroying two ISIS buildings and another smashed four gun positions.

Yesterday British defence secretary Michael Fallon welcomed the start of operations to liberate Mosul.

Using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State he said: “ Daesh are on the back foot. The beginning of the encirclement of Mosul today is a big moment in our efforts to rid Iraq of Daesh.

"Mosul is a large and complex city and operations there will be tough but with Coalition support Iraqi forces will prevail.

“Alongside our Coalition partners, the UK will continue to play a leading role in the air and on the ground, including through our strike missions, specialised surveillance, humanitarian support and the mentoring and training of Iraqi forces.”