Iraqi forces are continuing their push toward Mosul, the country's second largest city and the last ISIL stronghold in the nation. Government troops are in an area less than five kilometers east of the city. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command says the coalition has eliminated 360 militants and liberated 36 villages this week.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Shi'ite militias backed by Iran have decided to join the offensive on a new front west of Mosul. The move will block the retreat of jihadists into Syria. Backed by the US, 50-thousand Iraqi soldiers, police and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters launched the offensive to recapture Mosul from the south, the north and the east two weeks ago.