Officials from Iraq's Interior Ministry have said that security forces have launched a fresh advance against ISIL in several southeastern districts of Mosul.

Fighting in the city stalled about a month ago but authorities say forces are now advancing in the Intisar district. Thousands of federal police, redeployed from Mosul's southern outskirts two weeks ago, are expected to push into a nearby area. Elite Iraqi soldiers have retaken a quarter of Mosul, ISIL's last major stronghold in Iraq, but their advance has been slow and difficult.