Iraqi special forces Lieutenant General Sami al-Arathi said battle plans had changed last week and troops are now entering from the north after Iraqi forces struggled to push into the Old City from the south. "The multi-axis advance ... has presented the enemy with more dilemmas than they can react to," U.S.-led coalition spokesman John Dorrian told reporters during a press conference Wednesday. The eastern half of the city was retaken earlier this year, and troops are facing fierce IS resistance in the more heavily populated west Mosul.
The Iraqi army's chief of staff, Lt Gen Othman al-Ghanmi, states that his security forces are only days away from completing the operation to recapture Mosul from ISIL.