VIDEO: Iraqi Forces Retake 2 Villages in Shura District South of Mosul

Iraqi federal police handing out water and other aid to a group of civilians. Iraqi forces fought their way into the two villages near Mosul as the offensive to retake the extremist-held city entered its second week; AP reported.

The country’s second largest city fell to (Daesh/ISIL/ISIS) in 2014. Iraqi special forces began shelling ISIL positions before dawn near Bartella, a historically Christian town to the east of Mosul that they had retaken last week.

With patriotic music blaring from loudspeakers on their Humvees, they then pushed into the village of Tob Zawa, about nine kilometers (five and a-half miles) from Mosul, amid heavy clashes. The US-led coalition said it had carried out six airstrikes near Mosul on Sunday, destroying 19 fighting positions and 17 vehicles, as well as rocket and mortar launchers, artillery and tunnels.