The Iraqi army started its war against ISIS by reclaiming one city after another which soon turned into street battles and now it is a house-to-house fight. This reality plays itself out inside Mosul every day.
Iraqi troops have made progress since they launched an offensive to retake the city in mid-October and have taken back a number of neighborhoods in this ISIS stronghold, but as they push further into the city, they are bogged down by car bombs that come at them from around the bend, sniper fire from rooftops and mortar shells.
The army has brought some of its best troops to this war. The anti-terrorism forces, the golden division, the Basrah and Diyala units.
In al-Zuhur neighborhood in eastern Mosul ISIS was in control until Tuesday morning. Iraqi soldiers battled their way there and chased away ISIS militants who played the tactic of going from one house to another unseen.
With picks and hammers they had cut through walls separating the homes and retreated that way deeper into Mosul.
Sometimes the fight is so fast that soldiers enter homes that were occupied by ISIS militants only minutes earlier.
Despite the forces amassing against it, ISIS still appears determined not to give up without a fight.The residents of this neighborhood testified to this reality. They said ISIS militants were at their doorstep until the army appeared on their street.
The intense clashes had forced civilians to stay in doors, taking shelter in the backrooms. Some of them said they hadn't seen the light of day for two weeks and they only opened their doors, nervously, when they were sure the militants were gone.
Some were happy to be free and lamented the brutal rule of the Islamic group while others remained cautious lest the militants should come back.
Mosul is a big city. It is Iraq's second largest with many big neighborhoods and so far only two dozens of them freed and the army keeps pushing forward though they don't know what awaits them around the next corner.
